Harry's Parents
by TickleDragons007
Summary: This is my version of what happened with jily up until the very end. Don't worry; I'll be exploring the relationship between Sev and Lily too. Plus, there will be plenty of Marauders, including the badly behaved rabbit that lives in Remus. Oh yeah! There will be blackinnon like you've never seen, but that will be in later chapters.
1. The Truth

**The Truth ****(Lily)**

It had been four days since Lily's run-in with the Snape boy, and she was sitting on her bed reading her favorite tale in her copy of _The Knight's of the Round Table._ It was the one when Merlin and Morgana have a wizard's duel. Lily sighed. She just couldn't get his words out of her head.

_"You're a witch." _

Was she, though? Petunia had told her that it was rubbish, but the poor girl was having a hard time believing her older sister this once. The occurrences had been going on her entire life. When Lily had been quite small, she'd accidentally knocked over a vase while running through the house. Dismayed, little Lily had stomped her foot and begun to cry. She hadn't wanted her parents to get mad at her. As if responding to her dejection, the vase had morphed back together and appeared back on the end table where it belonged. Lily had been so surprised she'd stopped crying.

Another time Petunia had thrown a fit because the petunia bulbs their mother had brought home were white and not pink. Lily couldn't stand seeing her sister unhappy, so she'd decided to make them change color. When the plants had popped up the following spring with pink petals unfurling, Petunia had been ecstatic. Their mother had guessed that the bulbs must have been labeled incorrectly, and she patted her youngest daughter on the head, going along with Lily's claims that _she'd_ been the one who'd changed their colors with a small, unbelieving smile. Lily knew better, though. It _had_ been her.

Just the day before, in fact, Lily had made something unusual happen. It had been the first day of her last year in primary school. She'd been in the schoolyard reading _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_ when the school bully and his goons had snatched it from her hands and demanded her milk money. In a few seconds flat the bullies were all standing on top of the school roof. Lily had picked her book up off the ground, brushed off the dirt, and hurriedly made her way into the building by herself.

Lily missed Petunia. The older Evans girl was entering her second year of secondary school and Lily wouldn't be able to see her until Christmas. It had been so dreadfully lonely the past year, with only her books to keep her company. Petunia was her best friend. With her gone, Lily didn't only lose her sister, but her confidant, her playmate, and her hero. Lily was alone in primary school, and she had to fight her own battles against bullies. Not that she'd _ever_ duck out of a fight, but it had been nice to know that Petunia was around to support her. Everyone needed _someone_ that they could count on forever and ever. She sighed; it was still only the beginning of term, what was she going to do?

Finally, Lily decided that her mind was just too busy to delve into Camelot just then.

"I'm going to the park, Mum," Lily called over her shoulder as she pushed through the screen door. It was a partly cloudy day in very early September and a warm breeze rustled through Lily's long red hair. As she strolled through her neighborhood toward the park, Lily began to secretly hope that she'd meet the Snape boy there. Her imagination ran a little wild as she planned out the conversations about magic that they would have in her head. Petunia might scoff, but Lily wasn't so sure. The young girl was determined to get to the bottom of this, and if it turned out to be true, well, what Petunia didn't know wouldn't really hurt her, right?

Unfortunately, Lily arrived at the playground only to find it vacant. With a sigh, she sat down at her favorite swing and began to pump her legs back and forth. It wasn't long before Lily could see her feet lifting high over the crowns of the trees. Her emerald green eyes sparkled with laughter as she launched herself up into the sky. The little girl knew that she was really falling, but for a moment there it felt as if she could fly and keep flying anywhere.

She landed far too lightly on the ground, giggling.

"Do you believe me now?" a dull voice sounded from behind her. Lily turned to see the Snape boy hunched over with his hands stuck deep in the pockets of his ridiculously long coat.

"It _is_ magic then," Lily inquired quietly, "this stuff I can do?"

"Yeah."

Lily bit her lip. "I'm sorry about the other day. It-I just took it as a bit of a surprise, that's all. I'm Lily, by the way, Lily Evans." She put out a hand for him to take.

"Severus Snape," he told her, shaking it.

"That's a nice name. Do all witches and wizards have interesting names like that?" she asked, honestly curious.

Severus shrugged. "It's just some people, I think. My dad's a muggle anyway."

"You called Tuney that word too. What does it mean?"

"It's the term we use for non-magical members of society."

"Oh." Lily was a little worried because of the word _"we"._ She managed to swallow her discomfort, however, and continued shyly, "I don't know anything about witches and wizards, though. I mean the ones in real life anyway."

"That's because you're muggleborn. You'll learn, though. I can teach you if you like," he offered quickly. A dull flush began to grow in his cheeks and he scuffed the ground with the toe of his shoe.

"Oh, would you?" Lily asked, heartfelt gratefulness shining in her big green eyes.

"Of course," Severus ascertained, straightening up importantly. "The first thing you ought to know about is Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?" Lily hoped that this was not some sort of highly contagious, specialized disease.

Severus nodded. "It's a school for people with magic, like us. It's the best in the world. I think it's somewhere in Scotland, but of course nobody knows for sure. My mum went there, and we'll both be getting letters of acceptance next summer. That is, the summer after you turn eleven. You will be eleven this time next year, correct?"

"Yes, I will. My birthday is in January."

And that was the start of that.

In the weeks that followed, Severus informed her all about Diagon Alley.

"It's through this pub in Muggle-London and bam, you're there. I've never gone but it's supposed to be really splendid. You can buy all sorts of magical merchandise there. A fellow named Ollivander has a shop on Diagon Alley. He sells wands and my mum reckons that they're some of the best in the world. Oh and then there's Gringotts," he continued excitedly, "it's one of the safest banks in the wizarding world since it is run by goblins and all."

"Goblins?"

"Right; they put up so many spells and enchantments that you'd have to be out of your mind before you'd even attempt to steal something. Nearly all the wizarding gold in Britain and then some are stored there, though. Goblins are distinctly fond of treasure."

"I'm going to the park, Mum," Lily shouted up the stairs.

"Make sure to wear a coat, alright dear? It's chilly out today."

The park was filling up with red and gold leaves that were falling off the surrounding trees. There was rain forecast for later that week, Lily's father had said, but that afternoon everything was still cool and crisp. The perfect weather for leaf piles.

"You do what?" Severus asked incredulously.

"You put as many leaves as you can find into a pile and then you jump into them." She put her small hand to her chin and narrowed her eyes critically at the foliage on the ground. "Although, it would be easier with a rake, but we'll just have to make do, I guess."

Severus had a highly skeptical expression on his face as he helped Lily scoop up leaves and dump them into a pile.

"Ready?" Lily asked after they'd made a mountain of leaves.

"Ummm."

She grabbed his arm. "On three, okay? One, two-"

"I don't know about this Lily-"

"-three!"

"See?" Lily told him, popping her head out of the crinkly pile. "Wasn't that fun?"

Severus took a long look at the joy on her face and the yellow leaves contrasting against her auburn hair.

"Yeah," he admitted softly, not taking his eyes away from her pretty face, "I guess it kind of was."

"Let's do it again!"

"Oh. Umm." But he got up and reluctantly started helping her pile up the leaves again anyway.

Severus was even starting to enjoy himself when Lily's eyes began sparkling mischievously.

"What is it?" he asked a little apprehensively.

"I've just had the most fantastic idea," she said excitedly.

"Oh?"

"Let's move the pile over to the end of the slide."

"Oh…" Severus wasn't sure whether he liked where this was going.

"Then we can run down and jump in. Come on!"

"I think that might be a little dangerous…"

Lily laughed. "I'll go first then." She gathered up an armful of leaves. "Well, are you going help me or what?"

Severus sighed through his rather large nose then bent down to pick up some leaves.

"This is going to be great." Lily had climbed up the ladder and now was standing at the top of the slide.

"I think you'd better tell me where to find your mother if you break something," Severus told her.

Lily rolled her emerald eyes. "You sound just like Tuney. Don't you see how the pile is bigger this time than it was before? That's because I'll be running faster and jumping higher so I'll need more leaves as cushions. I won't break anything." Then she sprinted down the length of the slide, her little feet banging against the metal sheet. With a giant leap, she plunged into the pile of leaves.

Severus rushed over to her.

"Lily!" concern colored his voice. "Are you okay?"

The girl struggled to get out of the massive accumulation of leaves.

"That was _awesome_. Severus you have got to try that!"

"I'm sorry I haven't come to the park in a while. The weather's been ghastly and my mum wouldn't let me go outside," Lily apologized as the two of them played on the teeter-totter.

"That's alright," Severus answered.

"It's supposed to be clear for a while now, though. I asked my dad to check the telly. Oh I was wondering, do witches and wizards have the same stuff as we do if they have magic? You know, with light bulbs and the telly and refrigerators and all that."

Severus shook his head. "We have spells to do all that stuff for us already."

"Really? That must be so weird! How did your mum deal with all of the technology when she fell in love with your dad?"

Severus stiffened and turned, if possible, even paler.

"I don't rightly know," he answered her lowly.

Lily could feel her friend's discomfort, so she tactfully changed the subject.

"What're you doing for Halloween?"

"Nothing." Severus pushed his greasy black hair out of his eyes.

Lily put her feet out to stop the see-saw.

"Are you serious? You're not going trick-or-treating?" she said in disbelief.

Severus shrugged.

"I thought Halloween was a magical holiday." She let the see-saw keep tottering. "Don't witches and wizards celebrate it?"

"We do," Severus confirmed. "I just don't."

"Do you need a costume? I mean, I'm just going to be using an old princess one of Petunia's, but I'm sure there's something lying about. My dad's a Halloween nut."

Severus shrugged.

"It's free candy!"

He shrugged again. "It's not as fun as our sort of candy."

"What do you mean?"

"Ours is different. And there are some, chocolate frogs they call them, that are spelled to hop about just like real frogs."

"What? That's so cool!" Her green eyes were wide with excitement.

"Yeah, so muggle candy isn't really-"

Lily hopped off the teeter-totter, making him thud to the ground with an "oof". She put her tiny fists on her hips.

"_All_ candy is good candy, Severus."

And so at 2:37 PM on October 31st, Severus Snape found himself at the Evans' residence, knocking on the door.

"Hi Severus, come on in," Lily greeted.

In the living room, there was a big cardboard box full of props, masks, and costumes.

"I'm sure we'll find something in here," Lily assured her friend. "What about a zombie?"

"Zombies aren't real. Inferi are an all together different sort of undead."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Okay, no zombies. I'm going to bypass the whole wizard thing altogether. What about a pirate?"

Severus gave her a look. Lily laughed.

"Just try it on and see if you like it." She directed him to the bathroom.

He came out a few minutes later. "The parrot is unnecessary."

Lily giggled. "Alright then, no parrot. Dad's getting the pumpkins ready for carving outside, let's go."

Severus soon found that carving rotund, orange gourds was, on the whole, quite difficult. Lily, however, with years of practice under her belt, was actually rather good at the business.

"See?" She said, showing Severus her jack-o-lantern. "It's smiling."

The boy glared down at the scarred face of his squash. Lily looked at his progress.

"It's good."

He snorted. "Sure."

"No really, it is."

Severus sunk his knife into its face.

"I'm going to go change," Lily informed him. "I'll be back in a bit."

The poor boy gave up on his pumpkin pretty quickly after that. He gave the misshapen jack-o-lantern to Mr. Evans to light a candle inside and walked back up the steps and into the house.

"Have a seat," Mrs. Evans told him. "It's Severus, right? The boy Lily plays with at the park? It's so nice to finally meet you."

Severus mumbled something that sounded sort of like, "You too."

At that moment, Lily descended down the stairs in a frilly, sparkly pink dress with puffy sleeves and a cone-shaped hat with streamers attached to the top. Severus drew a sudden intake of breath.

"You look like a princess," he told her.

"That's the point, silly," Lily laughed as she sat down at the dinner table.

"No, really. You…" He halted his words.

"Okay, this is the plan," the little princess announced. "We swing around the block, hitting all the houses on one side of the street. Then we reverse coming back to the house on the other side of the street. Unless you want to do something different?"

"That's fine with me," he answered.

"This is going to be great. You'll see, Sev. Trick-or-treating is fun."

The days got shorter and the sleet began pouring down. Lily invited Severus over to play checkers and he began to tell her all about wizarding board games.

"…and the pieces really move by themselves in Wizard's Chess?" She asked in awe.

He nodded affirmatively. "You have to order them to whatever square they need to go to."

"Wow."

Lily never got tired of hearing about the wizarding world. It took her a while to wrap her head around some of the things he told her. Magic seemed so spectacular. One day, she ever so shyly showed him her favorite story about Merlin and Morgana.

"Merlin and Morgana are real historical figures, you know."

Her jaw dropped. "No way."

"Yep, and they went to Hogwarts too."

"That's so cool!"

"They were a part of the greatest of the four houses, Slytherin."

Snow began to fall in earnest just before Christmas, so Petunia came home a few days late. But unfortunately for Lily, her big sister seemed to be preoccupied with older, more mature topics than playing with her.

"Hey Tuney! Do you want to build a snowman?" Lily asked her sister hopefully one day during Christmas break.

"Shh Lily; can't you see I'm on the phone? Sorry; it was just my stupid little sister."

Lily stiffened, feeling as if an icicle had just shattered against her chest.

"Oh. Um, okay." She left the living room and walked out the front door.

Severus wasn't around to play with her either, so Lily made a snowman all by herself.

"Maybe I could use magic to make you come to life," Lily told him as she pushed in his carrot nose. "You could be friends with Frosty." She sighed sadly. "But I don't know how."

The little girl sat beside her snowman to think.

"You would be a good friend," she told him. "We could go sledding and have snowball fights. Well, I guess you wouldn't need a sled. It would be fun, though."

Lily raised her hand and the snow on the ground swirled up in little crystals and formed a beautiful white flower. It hung in the air for a moment, then dissipated.

A couple days after New Year's, Petunia was back at secondary school. Lily wandered over to the park in the afternoons, but Severus hadn't shown up in several days. But after a week of that, she found him there on the swings.

"Severus!" she cried happily. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you." She got a little closer. "Severus? Oh my god are you alright?"

Her friend was sporting a shiny purple bruise around his eye and a split lip to go along with it.

"What happened?" Lily gasped, concerned.

Severus pulled his huge coat tighter around his shoulders. "Nothing. It was worse earlier anyway."

Lily bit her lip. "I've got a first aid kit at home. Come on, we'll fix you up in no time. Put some snow on your eye for now."

"I'm _fine_, Lily," he pressed.

"No," she huffed, "actually you're not."

Lily's mum was at her sewing club and her dad was still at work, so Lily patched him up as best she could on her own.

"There," Lily said, handing him a hot coco. "That should keep you from catching a chill from the ice pack. Make sure not to wash off the salve on your lip, mind you."

Severus just stared deeply into his cup.

"What, do you not like mini-marshmallows?"

He didn't answer.

"So what really happened?" she induced gently.

"I was stupid," he muttered. "My parents were fighting and I got in the way."

The girl tucked some of her red hair behind her ear and bit her lip. She couldn't even remember the last time her parents had fought, and she was unable to imagine either one of them hurting each other, let alone their children.

"I got some more Camelot books for Christmas. You know, the ones about Merlin and Morgana. Would you like to borrow them?"

Severus almost smiled.

Lily lay on the swing on her stomach, pretending to fly like superman. Her red hair was so long that it nearly swept against the ground. Severus was watching her from the other swing, something like wonder brightening his coal-black eyes.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Lily started, still pretending to soar above the clouds. "Do wizards really use brooms to fly or is that just a myth? You've never mentioned it."

"Oh yes," Severus scoffed," people fly on them. But they're really of no use, seeing as there are faster methods of transportation."

"Oh really? What are those?"

"Well for one thing, there's floo powder. It basically turns your fireplace into a portal."

"Just basically." Lily grinned.

"Yes. And then there's apparition," he continued. "I'm not sure entirely how it's done quite yet because there aren't any spell words, but it manages to send you over large distances through sheer magical willpower."

"Wow. How large of a distance is a large distance?"

"We could probably get to Paris instantaneously."

The girl's eyebrows shot up, impressed. She rolled over onto her back and then assumed a sitting position and started swinging in the opposite direction.

"Would you take me to Paris, Sev?" she joked.

"I'd take you anywhere."

Lily laughed. The boy's cheeks began to flush a little bit. He cleared his throat.

"Anyway, learning to ride a broom is about the same as learning to ride a bike. People do it because it's a tradition, not because it'll actually get you places quickly. There are even sports on broomsticks, but they're all a waste of time."

Lily was looking at him strangely. "Don't tell me you don't know how to ride a bike."

Severus glanced at her speculating expression, alarmed.

"I think I'm going to be staying in this swing for the next few hours," he said.

Lily's sparkling laughter spiraled up towards the sun.

"Tuney's coming home for Easter Holidays tomorrow!" Lily sang as she skipped around the house. The little girl was trying to make their home as clean and tidy as she knew her sister liked it.

"Lily dear, could you be a little quieter please?" her mother requested.

"_Tuney's coming home for Easter Holidays tomorrow,"_ the youngster whisper-sang.

Lily tossed and turned in bed that night. She was so excited. It seemed as though she hadn't seen Petunia in _forever_. Then she had a thought. Should she tell her sister about magic? She'd never kept a secret from Petunia before. There was no reason that she should start now. But Tuney didn't believe in magic… No, Lily resolved, she was going to tell her.

"Tuney!" Lily squealed as she ran to give her a hug. Her big sister indulged her for a moment before shaking her off, laughing.

"Hi Lily."

The little red-headed girl gazed up at her with complete adoration in her emerald green eyes.

The week raced by. The girls played board games and Lily laughed at all of Petunia's pathetic jokes. Petunia baked chocolate-chip cookies from scratch and Lily helped her by stirring and stealing cookie dough. One evening they even stayed up a whole half hour passed Lily's bedtime watching _West Side Story_. Tuney cried at the end, as always.

Everything was as it should be. And, by the time that Lily remembered she was going to tell Petunia about magic, her big sister was already gone.

"There must be a potion for everything!" Lily exclaimed.

"Nearly," Severus said. "There aren't cures for things like werewolf and vampire bites, though."

"Werewolves and vampires?"

"Oh yes, they're very much real live creatures. Their bites can cause death or a fate even worse. Sometimes they even go for muggles."

Lily laughed hesitantly. "You're just trying to scare me. It won't work."

"Sometimes those monsters even go for infants, causing the babies to grow up with their condition for their entire lives."

"That's awful!"

"I know. That's why nobody's ever found a cure. Nobody can get through to those monsters."

"But aren't werewolves human for some of the time?" Lily wanted to know.

"Yeah," Severus admitted. "But some of them are muggles who don't realize what they are. And telling them would violate the Statute of Secrecy."

"What's that?"

"It's wizarding law," said Severus seriously. "It was instated years ago for our safety. Muggles could mess up everything we've ever worked for."

"How?"

"There're more of them," Severus said simply. He didn't add any other opinions about muggles.

Lily frowned, but she didn't voice any thought to that.

Lily's primary school made a big deal of their oldest students' graduation. The little red-haired girl was as excited as everyone else about it. Soon she'd be going to Hogwarts with Severus, after all. Her parents took pictures along with all of the other kids' parents, but nobody else particularly noticed Lily in the throng of pre-pubescent pupils. Although she had near-perfect marks, her teachers barely remembered her. The only friend she'd had there had been Petunia, and now Petunia was gone. Dually noted, Lily Evans did not tend to like school very much.

The best thing about this time of year was that Petunia came home, and this time it was for months on end. It was now that Lily excitedly reiterated everything she knew about magic to her dearly loved sister.

"…and there are these chocolate frog candies and Severus says that they hop around and everything!"

Petunia only laughed derisively.

"Really Lily, you're so gullible. He's lying. There's no such thing as Hogwarts or magic, be sensible."

"But what about all this stuff I can do?"

"Well it's not magic, that's for sure. Now go to sleep, it's getting late."

Feeling horribly misled and disappointed, Lily retreated to her room.

It didn't stop her from going to the park to meet Severus the following morning, however. The early June day was excruciatingly hot and dry. So, the kids sought out the small, shaded woodsy area between the park and the dribbling tributary to the river by Spinner's End. It was so hot, in fact, that Severus had taken off his enormous coat, revealing an odd, smock-like shirt and too-short jeans beneath it. They sat facing each other, talking of magic.

"…and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic outside of school," he told her, "You get letters."

"But I _have_ done magic outside of school," Lily cried, alarmed.

"We're all right," he assured her. "We haven't got wands yet. But once you're eleven," the young boy nodded importantly, "and they start training you, then you've got to go careful."

There was a little silence. Lily picked up a twig and started twirling it around, pretending it was a wand with sparks trailing out the tip. Then she dropped the twig, leaned in toward Severus and said, "It _is_ real, isn't it? It's not a joke? Petunia says you're lying to me. Petunia says there isn't a Hogwarts." She gazed at him imploringly with her beautiful green eyes. "It _is_ real, isn't it?"

"It's real for us," said Severus. "Not for her. But we'll get the letter, you and me."

"Really?" whispered Lily.

"Definitely," said Severus, brimming with confidence in their destinies.

"And will it really come by owl?" Lily whispered.

"Normally," Severus answered. "But you're muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain it to your parents."

Lily broke eye contact and swallowed, then voiced her worry aloud. "Does it make a difference, being muggle-born?"

Severus hesitated. His black eyes, eager in the greenish gloom of the shade, moved over the pale face, the dark red hair.

"No," he said quietly. "It doesn't make any difference."

Lily let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding in.

"Good."

"You've got loads of magic," said Severus brightly. "I saw that. All that time I was watching you…"

His voice trailed away; she was not listening, but had stretched out on the leafy ground and was looking at the light that filtered down through the canopy overhead. He watched her greedily.

"How are things at your house?" Lily asked.

A little crease appeared between his eyes.

"Fine," he said shortly.

The small girl sat up on her elbows.

"They're not arguing anymore?"

"Oh yes, they're arguing," said Severus. He picked up a fistful of leaves and started shredding them apart, apparently unaware of what he was doing. "But it won't be that long and I'll be gone."

"Doesn't your dad like magic?"

"He doesn't like anything, much," came the reply.

"Severus?"

A little smile twisted on his mouth as she said his name.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about the dementors again."

"What d'you want to know about them for?"

"If I use magic outside of school-"

"They wouldn't give you to the dementors for that! Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too-"

He turned red and shredded more leaves. Just then, a small rustling noise from behind a nearby tree gave Petunia's hiding place away. She'd been listening in, balanced on one of the roots, and had lost her footing.

"Tuney!" exclaimed Lily, surprise and welcome in her voice.

Her friend's reaction was opposite.

"Who's spying now?" Severus shouted, jumping to his feet. "What d'you want?"

Petunia was breathless, alarmed at being caught. But instead of being defensive, she went on the offensive. Her beady eyes roved over the Snape boy for something to comment on that would be hurtful.

"What's that you're wearing, anyway?" she said, pointing to his chest. "Your mum's blouse?"

There was a _crack;_ a branch over Petunia's head had fallen. Lily screamed; the branch caught Petunia on the shoulder, and she staggered backwards and burst into tears.

"Tuney!"

But Petunia was running away. Lily rounded on Severus.

"Did you make that happen?"

"No." He looked both defiant and scared.

"You did!" She backed away from him. "You _did!_ You hurt her!"

"No-no I didn't!"

Lily gave him a burning look and took off after her sister yelling, "Tuney! Tuney, are you alright?"

She eventually caught up with her sobbing sibling a block before their house.

"Tuney? Tuney are you alright? I'm so sorry."

Tears were splashing down Petunia's front and her face was red and screwed up from crying.

"I'll get ice. I'll get you ice, okay? Then you'll get better and we can watch telly, okay?"

Lily waited on her injured sister hand and foot. And by the time that their parents came home, poor Petunia had calmed down significantly. The Snape boy and magic were not mentioned in the Evans household for the next month. Lily refused to go to the park or anywhere near there, so for the next few weeks she delved back into her books. Every so often she would go out into the yard to play with her sister or help her mother garden, but in the back of her mind, Lily really missed Severus.

Then, one humid day in mid-July, there was a knock at the door of the Evans family residence. A rigid, severe looking woman in a green tweed suit and a small, tartan patterned necktie stood on their doorstep.

She pushed her square spectacles up the bridge of her nose.

"Good morning," she said in a light, Scottish-accented voice. "My name is Professor McGonagall. Might I come in?

_**A/N: Sorry for the Frozen reference. I couldn't resist.**_


	2. Diagon Alley

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created in the Harry Potter books.**_

**Diagon Alley**** (Lily)**

Lily could barely believe this was happening. Here she was, sitting between her parents on their couch, listening to a witch tell them about Hogwarts. It was just as Severus had said. _Severus,_ Lily thought sadly. _I'll have to find him and apologize._

Sitting on Lily's right-hand side was her mother, Mrs. Rose Evans. Mrs. Evans had a good figure, creamy complexion, and straight blonde hair that was cut just above her shoulders. Lily looked a lot like her, except for the hair, which had been passed on to Petunia. The youngest daughter had also inherited the same color of her mother's emerald green eyes. And, at the moment, those glorious eyes of Mrs. Evans' were flashing with skepticism as she listened to Professor McGonagall's speech.

Mr. Evans, who occupied the couch cushion to Lily's left, was not nearly as comely as his wife. He had a horse-like face with an extra long neck to go along with it. His face was pale and his belly was dumpy. The shock of thick, auburn hair he possessed atop his head was the same as Lily's own. His beady, muddy-blue eyes were all aglow, as if someone had just given him the best present of his life, and he hung on to every word the professor said in undisguised fascination.

Presently, Professor McGonagall had decided that they all needed a little bit of proof and had transformed into a tabby cat there on the spot. In response, Lily started, her mother gasped, and her father leapt to his feet and shouted "Wicked!" as though he was still an easily excited school boy.

"You're an animagus!" Lily exclaimed once McGonagall was human again.

The professor seemed a tad taken aback.

"Why yes, Ms. Evans, I am. How you came across this term, however, seems to be a mystery."

"Oh." Lily felt herself turn red. "A boy that doesn't live that far away reckoned I was a witch and told me about it."

"I see," said Professor McGonagall. "Then it will come to you as no surprise that I have in my possession a letter from Hogwarts School containing a list of your supplies." She raised a faint black eyebrow.

Lily nodded, her porcelain cheeks still a bit flushed.

"Well then, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, if you would be so kind as to accompany us to Diagon Alley, we should go at once to collect your daughter's school things. The wizarding currency is different, I must tell you, so if you would please bring as much of your money as you think will be needed in transactions." She took an envelope out of her suit jacket pocket. "Your letter, Ms. Evans."

Lily took the parchment from Professor McGonagall's hand and read in a bright magenta ink, a letter addressed to Ms. L. Evans. She pulled out the letter and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins September 1st.

Yours sincerely,

Cyrus Bookle

_Deputy Headmaster _

"Simply fantastic," muttered Lily's father, who had been reading over his daughter's shoulder.

Lily stood in front of a drab little pub in London, the creaky wooden sign hanging above the door making it known to the little muggle-born girl that this was the Leaky Cauldron.

"Wow," she breathed, "this is really it."

Professor McGonagall had to lead Lily's parents through the Leaky Cauldron's door because they couldn't see it. Directly inside there was a dark, quiet taproom. A balding man with a lined face was behind the bar and an assortment of witches and wizards were scattered on different stools and around tables.

"Fine day Minerva?" called the barman.

"Yes, it's very pleasant Tom. I am escorting this young witch through Diagon Alley as of now and we must not delay. I'm sure you'll excuse us from idle chitchat."

A few of the wizards in the pub gave Lily's parents some funny looks as they passed by, but Lily didn't notice. A thrill of excitement had rushed up her spine when McGonagall had called her a witch. The small girl smiled hugely. She followed the professor out through the back of the Leaky Cauldron and halted, facing a dusky red, brick wall.

"It's the second across and third down for future reference, Ms. Evans," Professor McGonagall informed her. She tapped the correct brick with the tip of her wand and the wall spread apart to form an archway. Lily gasped as she took in the sight.

The cobblestone street was lined with colorful shops. Odd smells wafted out of the Apothecary and poofs of orange smoke erupted out of a peddler's silver cauldron.

"Can you bloody believe this?" a warlock with thick, grey sideburns huffed to a cast-eyed witch. "Four hundred and thirty to eighty points in the Wanderers' favor."

A Great Grey Owl hooted suddenly. Its brass cage rattled a little bit. There weren't any cars on the street at all and Lily's parents stood out enormously, what with their lack of cloaks and all. Mr. Evans was nearly twitching with excitement. A yellow measuring tape flicked and constricted in mid-air. _Brilliant, _Lily thought to herself_. It's bewitched. This is all like Severus described it._

Standing above the crooked shops and flats at the end of the walk was a pillared building made of white marble. As the group made its way up the polished steps, Lily read a golden sign declaring it Gringotts, the wizards' bank. The obviously non-human creatures at work inside the echoing main room intimidated Lily just a tad. Still, she met the goblin's gaze as he peered down at her from behind a tall desk.

"We would like to convert pounds to galleons as well as set up a new vault for a Ms. Lily Evans, if you please," Professor McGonagall told him.

The goblin behind the desk made some quick marks on a piece of parchment with his feather quill before pushing some papers over for Lily and her parents to sign. Then he took the paper money and fiddled with it. At long last, he pushed a sack of coins and a tiny key across the desk.

"The rest of the transactions will be stored in Ms. Evans' new vault."

"Yes. Thank you Dockaxe," McGonagall said primly.

"Thank you," the three Evans murmured to the well-dressed goblin.

"It is twenty-nine knuts to a sickle and seventeen sickles to a galleon," Professor McGonagall explained to Lily as they descended the bank's front steps. Mr. and Mrs. Evans had allowed their daughter to hold and count out the bag of money.

"Call it an early allowance boost," her father had said with a wink.

Their first stop was a book shop called Flourish & Blotts. There, the young witch bought all of her school books: _The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1, A History of Magic, Magical Theory, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Magical Drafts and Potions, An Elementary Guide to Counter-curses_, and_ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them._ Lily usually had very little pocket money, but what money she did get was almost always spent on extra books. And here, in this beautiful shop, she used her extra knuts and sickles to do just that, adding _Hogwarts: A History_ to the bag of books. She knew that the first thing she would do when she got home would be to begin reading these fascinating titles. In addition to all of that, Lily bought her quills and ink there at Flourish & Blotts.

Next they visited the Apothecary for her potions ingredients. Then they bought a Standard Size 2 pewter cauldron for mixing those ingredients in when it was time for potions class. Besides that, there were the scales and phials for measuring out her ingredients. And in the next shop Lily bought herself a brass telescope for Astronomy class. After that it was off to Madam Malkin's to buy her robes.

"This way, dear," Madam Malkin said, ushering Lily to the back of the shop to be fitted. Another girl Lily's age was standing on a stool in front of a mirror waiting to be fitted too. She had olive-hazel eyes that seemed to smile all by themselves. Her hair was either a very dark blonde or a very light brown, Lily couldn't tell, but it was bobbed short around the girl's chin and had bangs combed perfectly straight framing her round, cheery face.

"Hullo," she greeted. "Hogwarts too?"

Lily smiled and returned the greeting, "Hi."

"I'm Alice Prewett," the girl said, introducing herself. "My dad's at Eeloyps' getting me an owl and my mum's getting my books. Isn't this grand? I've been waiting to go to Hogwarts my whole life!"

Lily nodded eagerly. "I just heard about it a little bit ago, but it sounds incredible."

"Oh, are you a muggle-born? Is it true that they use felly-tones instead of the owl post?" Alice asked in a hushed voice as if they were discussing wild, unheard of rumors.

"Yeah, we use phones to call each other. It uses electricity somehow and that's why there are telephone wires everywhere."

"That sounds _grand_," Alice said, awestruck.

"Yeah," said Lily slowly, wondering if she would ever in her life attribute the adjective "grand" to telephone wires.

"What's your name again?" Alice asked.

"What? Oh sorry, I'm Lily Evans."

Alice opened her mouth to say something else, but Mme. Malkin came in to tell her that she was all done.

"See you at Hogwarts then," Alice said instead.

"Bye," Lily returned.

After Mme. Malkin's, Professor McGonagall suggested that she and Lily's parents make reservations for lunch.

"Ollivander's Wand Shop is just down there, Ms. Evans," Professor McGonagall said, pointing.

Lily grinned. This had been something she'd really been anticipating, buying a magic wand. She entered the dim, dusty little shop all by herself.

The inside of Ollivander's was eerily lit with shelves upon shelves of rectangular boxes stacked precariously on top of one another. Lily didn't think Petunia would like this place very much, what with the dust and the disorganized look of it. The little girl advanced slowly. The peculiar little shop appeared to be empty. _It did say it was open, _thought Lily uncertainly.

"May I help you?" a soft voice came drifting from behind her. Lily gasped and spun around. A white-haired man with strange silver eyes stood there, studying her.

"Er, hullo," said Lily uneasily. "I've come to buy a wand."

Mr. Ollivander brightened. "Oh, splendid. Come here, my dear. Now, which is your wand arm?"

"Well, I'm right-handed," she answered tentatively.

"Yes, yes. That will do." He disappeared around one of the many shelves, but was back before she knew it. "Try this one. It's hemlock and dragon's heartstring, rather bendy."

Lily took hold of it, unsure of what to do.

"Well go on with it," said Mr. Ollivander. "Give it a wave."

Lily moved her wrist, but Mr. Ollivander said. "No, no, no. Here; oak and phoenix feather, quite supple." Again, she tried and again, Mr. Ollivander promptly snatched the wand out of her grasp.

"Maple and phoenix feather, seven inches long and whippy… no. Ah, here we go, Blackwood and unicorn hair, stiff…" Lily waved it and the chair behind Mr. Ollivander's desk crumbled. His bushy white eyebrows rose. "Apparently not."

Lily felt herself blush and wondered whether or not she was truly cut out to be a witch if she couldn't even find a wand.

Just then, Mr. Ollivander scurried up a ladder, grabbed one of the many boxes, and returned to the ground in a jiffy.

"Right, how about this?"

Lily took up the new wand and gave it a wave. She felt a warmth spread through her finger tips and red and gold sparks flashed out of the end of the wood.

"Yes, yes finally," Mr. Ollivander exclaimed excitedly. "We've found you a wand. Or, to be more precise, the wand has found you. It's the wand who chooses the wizard, Ms. Evans, don't forget that. Yes, yes, my, my, ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. A phoenix feather core and especially good for charm work. Yes, I think this will do very nicely."

Lily smiled so widely that it hurt her cheeks. Then she paid Mr. Ollivander seven galleons for the wand and left the shop.

_**A/N: Thank you for reading! If you could be the magnificent people that you are and spare your time for a review I'd be eternally grateful! Thanks again!**_


	3. The Letter From Dumbledore

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any thing created for the Harry Potter books.**_

**The Letter From Dumbledore ****(Lily) **

"Petunia, guess what?" Mr. Evans blurted upon returning home. "We have a witch in the family!"

Mrs. Evans put an arm around her youngest daughter and glowed.

"Come on, girls," she suggested. "Let's bake a cake to celebrate."

But if Lily thought her big sister would be happy for her, she was sorely surprised. Petunia did _not_ congratulate her in any way, shape, or form. In fact, the older Evans girl retreated to her room as soon as her parents released her and sulked there for quite some time. Lily bit her lip, worried. But Petunia _had_ to come around eventually, didn't she?

Her parents, on the other hand, continued to be overjoyed. Mr. Evans peppered his daughter with questions, even going so far as to ask to borrow her copy of_ A History of Magic _in order to learn more.

"Really Nate; those books are meant for Lily, not muggles like us," Mrs. Evans berated her husband laughingly, but Lily could see that she was curious too.

After her trip to Diagon Alley, Lily journeyed to the playground every day in search of Severus. The fiery red-head refused to give up hope, and on the fifth day, she was in luck. There he was. Slump-shouldered, dirty-haired, and wearing a ridiculously large coat. He sat on the teeter-totter by himself, a very morose expression on his face. The metal see-saw creaked pitifully and the boy atop it gave a forlorn little sigh.

"Severus!" Lily greeted happily.

"Lily?"

"Oh Severus, I got my letter! Professor McGonagall, she's the Transfiguration teacher, she brought it all the way to my house! Then I went to Diagon Alley and everything was just as you said!" She stopped to take a breath; then continued shyly, her green eyes shimmering up through her long, red eyelashes. "I'm sorry that I lost my temper and I'll forgive you for losing yours if you forgive me for losing mine."

Severus's sallow face broke into a brilliant smile. "Of course! Care to join me?"

"Sure," She grinned, and hopped on.

The duo continued as if they'd never fought. When it was nice out they'd play in the park, and when the August storms rolled in, Lily would invite Severus over for biscuits and lemonade at her house. To Lily's extreme grievance, Petunia never came out of her room when he was there. But, she still remained hopeful that her sister would forgive her friend.

One day the two friends were sitting on Lily's bed animatedly discussing their new books.

"Have you gotten to the part in _A History of Magic_ about Wendelin the Weird yet?" Severus wanted to know.

"Oh yes," she answered, nodding vigorously. "I've read up on everything to do with the medieval witch burnings. It's fascinating. How did everyone manage to live out the rest of their lives on alias, do you think?"

"They were only disappearing from the muggle world, so it didn't matter as much."

"I guess so," Lily responded.

"What is this?" Severus asked confoundedly, picking up a purple flashlight.

His friend laughed. "Haven't you any flashlights at your home?"

He shook his head. "My dad tries to keep everything as dark as possible. It's something to do with the headaches he gets. How does it work?" Severus flicked some greasy black hair out of his eyes and began to brandish the flashlight around as if it were a wand.

Lily doubled over laughing.

"Here; you have to press the button."

"Where?" Severus questioned, still waving it around.

"There."

"What?" The electronic device slipped from his grasp and went flinging out Lily's open door, across the hall, and bumping through Petunia's bedroom door.

"You better not be trying any spells you two," Mrs. Evans called from downstairs.

"We're not. Sorry for the noise," Lily hollered back. She and Sev made eye contact and they both began to laugh.

"You're lucky Tuney's over at a friend's house," Lily told him, still giggling. "Otherwise she'd have marched over here and bitten both our heads off. Come on, let's go get it. She'll notice if we don't." With that, she leapt off the bed, Severus at her shoulder, and trotted over to retrieve the gadget.

"Hey Lily, look at this," Severus said, pointing to a piece of parchment lying on Petunia's pink, shag carpet floor. He picked it up.

"Oh, Sev… I'm not so sure. It's hers-"

"It's a letter from Dumbledore!" Severus interjected.

"What?! Let me see," Lily squawked, grabbing out of his hand.

Sure enough, in neat, slanted handwriting there was a letter.

Dear Ms. Evans,

I daresay you make an excellent case. Keeping one's family close is one of the greatest, most important goals in this life. Unfortunately, there has not been a mistake. If you were capable of magic you would have been informed two years previous to this. Be that as it may, I am certain that you will accomplish stunning feats in your own world. You are just as talented as your sister, don't forget that. The two of your talents show themselves in different ways that's all. I suggest you keep your sister near to your heart for the remainder of the holidays.

Best Wishes,

Albus Dumbledore

"Oh poor, poor Tuney," Lily said tearfully.

"I wonder how it got to him. There must be ministry workers where your mail goes."

Lily just shrugged then nodded.

"Hey Tuney," Lily began once her sister got home, but she was ignored.

"Tuney, do you want to watch a movie with-?"

"Mum, Loma asked me to go shopping this afternoon," Petunia brought up quickly.

"Do you want to play checkers with me, Tuney?"

There came no reply.

The morning of September 1st raced closer, and Petunia still refused to speak with her sister any more than a seldom "pass the salt" at dinnertime. Mr. Evans arbitrarily decided that the whole family should see Lily off at Platform 9 ¾. The backseat of the Evans' car was absolutely silent as the parents jabbered on about their daughter's adventure to wizard school. But upon arrival, Lily decided to talk her big sister around once and for all.

"…I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry! Listen-" she caught her sister's hand and held tight to it, even though Petunia tried to pull away. "Maybe once I'm there-no, listen Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!"

"I don't-want-to-go!" said Petunia as she dragged her hand back out of her sister's grasp. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle to learn to be a-a-"

She surveyed the platform, taking in the cloaked figures and the owls fluttering in their cages.

"-you think I want to be a-a freak?"

Lily felt her heart plummet into her stomach and her eyes fill with teas. Her sister finally succeeded in pulling her hand away.

"I'm not a freak," said Lily, a teary tremor shook her voice. "That's a horrible thing to say."

"That's where you're going," said Petunia with relish. "A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy… Weirdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety."

Lily glanced at her parents, who she'd already made her good-byes to. They were drinking in the scene-the scarlet train, the people in cloaks- with whole-hearted enjoyment. Then she turned back to her sister, her voice low and fierce.

"You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you."

Petunia turned scarlet. "Beg? I didn't beg!"

"I saw his reply. It was very kind."

"You shouldn't have read-" whispered Petunia, "that was my private-how could you-?"

Lily gave herself away by half-glancing over to where Severus stood with his mother, already dressed in his school robes. Petunia gasped.

"That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!"

"No-not sneaking-" now Lily was on the defensive. "Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all! He says there must be wizards working undercover at the postal service who take care of-"

"Apparently wizards poke their noses everywhere!" said Petunia, now as pale as she'd been flushed._ "Freak!" _She spat.

Lily felt a sharp pain in her chest, as if the corner of her heart was ripping and there was nothing there that could ever sew it back up.


	4. The Hogwarts Express

**The Hogwarts Express (****Lily) **

Still in tears, Lily boarded the Hogwarts Express and found an empty compartment. She nestled up next to a window and stared through the pane at her family below. What was she going to do without them? Be brave, her dad always told her. But who was she going to be brave with? Tuney was gone. She didn't look up as some boys slid open the compartment door and took their seats, chattering animatedly and piling up their luggage haphazardly. Tuney would've hated that: all of that noise and messiness. At last, Severus found her and sat in the seat on her right.

"I don't want to talk to you," Lily informed him in a constricted voice.

"Why not?"

"Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw the letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?"

She threw him a look of deep dislike.

"So she's my sister!" she said, trying to covertly wipe her eyes.

"She's only a-" He caught himself quickly and thankfully, Lily didn't hear.

"But we're going!" he began again, unable to keep the exhilaration out of his voice. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

She nodded, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, she half smiled.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said Severus, encouraged that she had brightened a little.

"Slytherin?" scoffed an attractive boy with glasses who was sitting at the other end of the compartment. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

The boy sitting next to him looked grim.

"My whole family has been in Slytherin," he said.

"Blimey," exclaimed the first boy, "and I though you seemed alright!"

The other grinned. He had fascinatingly silky black hair. Lily wondered which conditioner he used, or if it was done with magic.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition," the second boy was saying. "Where're you headed, if you've got the choice?"

The boy with glasses lifted an invisible sword. "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!' Like my dad."

Severus mad a small, disparaging noise. The handsome, bespectacled boy turned on him.

"Got a problem with that?" he snapped at Severus.

"No," said Severus sneeringly. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy-"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected the second boy. The bespectacled boy roared with laughter.

Animosity flared within Lily and she immediately forgot that she was supposed to be angry with her friend. She jumped to her feet and cast a look of dislike at the two stupid boys who were making fun of Severus. Her face was flushing a little bit due to her rising temper.

"Come on, Severus," she remarked loftily, "let's find another compartment."

"Ooooo…"

All the other boys began to imitate her voice. The one with glasses tried to trip Severus as he passed, apparently looks weren't everything.

"See ya, Snivellus!" called a voice as they exited the compartment. Lily slammed the door shut on the half-dozen little idiots.

"Don't listen to them, Severus. They're just ignorant, boastful-"

The train jolted and Severus bumped into Lily, almost knocking her over.

"Sorry."

"S'okay. Come on, I think there are some seats over there."

"Do you mind if we sit here?" Lily asked the two boys occupying the new compartment. One of the boys seemed a bit older than they were, maybe fourteen or so. He had long, tangled blond hair and a tall pointed hat with some obscure looking flower tied to the brim. His school robes were already on and he had a blue and bronze striped necktie poking out of the fastenings of his cloak.

"Hmmm?" he answered distractedly.

"May we sit here?" the girl repeated.

"Oh, fine, fine." He waved at them vaguely.

Lily looked at the other boy. He was dressed in shabby muggle clothes and, although taller than both Severus and Lily, appeared to be the same age as them. He didn't look away from the rolling green hills that passed outside the window as he shrugged in answer.

"Thanks," Lily told them.

She and Severus sat down. The older boy unfurled a crumpled looking newspaper entitled the _Daily Prophet_, and set about reading it. To Lily's delight, the black and white pictures on the page moved accordingly, just like the ones in her school text books did. She grinned.

After a bit of a pause, none of the three boys had yet deigned towards introductions, so Lily took it upon herself to do so.

"So hello, my name is Lily Evans."

The blond boy made a sound through his nose like an irritated rhinoceros.

Lily jumped. "Sorry..?"

"These fellows at the _Prophet_ just don't know what they're talking about," he complained robustly. "What is all this about pure-blood extremists? We should be more worried about the rise of fermented Doxie eggs in the region!"

Lily glanced at Severus, but he seemed just as bewildered as she was. The other boy didn't even look away from the window.

"Not to mention the affliction of twitching eyelids in the Chinese Fireballs these days!" he continued.

"Oh," said Lily uncertainly.

"If I had a journal I would set things all to rights," he explained. "The public must be informed." He blinked his sort of cross-eyed blue oculi and smiled pleasantly at Lily. "Hello. I'm Xeno Lovegood."

"Pleasure," she replied, unsure whether she or not she should laugh at the eccentric teenager's speech.

Severus had no such qualms. He let out a rather loud and ungainly snort through his nose.

"Did some doxies lay their eggs up there?" Xeno asked kindly. "It would be a prime habitat."

Lily quickly elbowed her friend before he could respond.

"Anyway," Lily continued. "Severus and I are on our very first trip to Hogwarts. Do you have any advice for first years?"

Xeno seemed to contemplate the question. Then he got a light in his eyes and gave his nose a tap.

"Watch out for the wrackspurts in Binns' class. There's a whole colony drifting about that place."

"I see," said Lily. Then she looked over the boy sitting in the corner. "What about you? Is this your first time to Hogwarts as well?"

The boy looked startled, his big brown eyes wide. He seemed utterly alarmed that she was addressing him.

He nodded. "Yes, it's my first time too. I'm Remus Lupin."

Just then, the door slid open.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" asked a kindly looking old woman.

Remus' eyes lit up and he went out into the corridor immediately. Xeno began to hum to himself and turned back to his paper. Lily silently counted the money she had in her bag and decided that there was enough to buy some sweets for Sev and herself.

"Want one?" she asked her friend, passing him a chocolate frog.

Severus smiled and decapitated the struggling chocolate amphibian with one bite. Remus seemed very content with his chocolate cauldron cake.

"Do you want a frog?" the girl asked him.

He looked so surprised; automatically pointing to himself and mouthing "me?" in response to her question.

"Yes, you," Lily said, grinning. She tossed him a package.

He caught it and smiled shyly, looking down at his shoes.

"So, are you a pure-blood?" Severus asked abruptly, looking nettled.

Remus shook his head. "I'm a half-blood."

"Oh." Then he continued, "Which house do you want to get into?"

"You should all hope for Ravenclaw," Xeno chimed in unexpectedly.

"And why is that?" Severus asked sneeringly.

"The point of schooling is to retain knowledge, and the Ravenclaws are the best known for that," the older boy replied patiently.

"Are you in Ravenclaw?" Lily asked.

"Yes."

Severus sat back with a smug expression, as if that explained it all.

"What do you think, Remus?" Lily asked, trying to include him. He looked as if he was in need of a decent hug.

The quiet brunette boy shrugged. "Most of my family's in Ravenclaw…" he trailed off.

"Slytherin is obviously the worthiest house," Severus claimed.

Snaps, crackles and pops exploded from the train's corridor.

"What on earth?" The young red-haired girl opened the compartment door to look outside. Severus promptly began to choke on the smoke that began to stream in through the door. Colorful sparks still flew here and there.

"I've never seen so many conblarbs get in a fit," Xeno exclaimed.

Lily laughed, and this time, Remus cracked a smile too.

"Firs' years! Firs' years, gather 'round!" boomed a voice that shook the entirety of the platform.

Lily was standing with Severus amidst the throng of black-cloaked students pin-wheeling about Hogsmeade Station. They'd lost Remus somewhere and Xeno had gone to join the older students in the horse-less carriages.

"Firs' years! Over here!" The thundering voice was originating from a gigantic man with a big, bushy black beard. "Firs' years! Is that all o' yeh? Alrigh' to the boats!"

Lily followed the light of the giant's swinging lantern, tripping over the hem of her cloak every few steps. Cloaks were all very good, she had decided by the time they reached the dock, but they needed some practice walking in before they became particularly useful.

"Hi Lily!" she heard someone squeak in her ear. She turned to see Alice and a tall, pretty, blonde girl on her left.

"Hi Alice-oof!" She had tripped over her cloak again. "How are you?"

"I'm _grand!_ I can't wait to see the castle! I'm so nervous for the sorting! Oh, sorry. This is Dorcas. We met on the train."

The other girl smiled at Lily. "Hi."

"Hi. This is Severus," Lily said, gesturing to her friend.

Severus managed a grimace in their direction.

"On'y four to a boat!" the giant called to all of them.

Lily made her way down the boards of the dock and attempted to step into one of the little wooden boats. Just as her step was suspended over the Black Lake, however, she slipped.

"Whoa!"

"Got'cha!"

Lily felt someone pulling her upright by the back of her robes. Some snickers and giggles assaulted her ears from the fellow first years around her.

"Yeh alrigh' there?" asked the giant. "Yeh almos' took quite a tumble."

"Th-thanks," Lily stammered. She was sure she was blushing.

He put out a huge, meaty hand for her to shake. The corners of his bright black eyes crinkled into a smile.

"I'm Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

"I'm Lily."

"Nice ter meet'cha, Lily. Yeh ready for Hogwarts?"

"Oh yes!" The little girl's bright green eyes sparkled.

"Well come on then. It's not too much farther now."

Once everyone was settled, the boats were cast off. They drifted across the murky water, which was the color of the night sky above. Lily skimmed her finger tips over the smooth, caliginous surface. Then she turned and flicked sprinkles of water droplets over at Sev.

"Hey!" he said, disgruntled.

She laughed and turned her gaze up at the smoky black clouds shifting through the sky.

"Watch yer heads!" warned Hagrid as the fleet of row boats passed under a jagged, rocky outcropping.

Then they rounded a bend and the first years all took their first clear sight of Hogwarts castle.

"Oohhhhh."

It was magnificent. Four uneven towers loomed over the fine, granite keep. Golden candlelight flickered out of the many windows. An owl swooped by on silent wings. The castle was enormous. A thought flashed through Lily's mind._ How are we supposed to navigate through all of that? _The boats then bumped into the dock and the first years climbed out, still staring at the castle in awe. Hagrid led them up to the front gate and knocked three times.

It was Professor McGonagall who answered.

"Here are the firs' years, Professor," Hagrid told her.

"Thank you, Hagrid." Then she turned to the nervous new students. "Welcome to Hogwarts. This way, please."

_**A/N: I hope I got Hagrid's brogue at least somewhat correct. And Xeno's wrackspurt warning was really sound advice, don't you think? They make you're brain go all fuzzy. Heaven knows the amount of naps that happen in Binns' class. **_


	5. The Sorting Hat

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created for the Harry Potter books.**_

**The Sorting Hat ****(Lily) **

The first years followed Professor McGonagall through the hallowed halls of Hogwarts.

"Welcome to Hogwarts first years!"

"You're most welcome here, dears, most, most welcome!"

Lily grabbed Severus' arm and pointed at the walls.

"Look! The portraits- they're talking to us!" she exclaimed, her emerald green eyes gleaming with excitement. Many of the portraits followed the mob of new students through each other's frames. Lily was not the only one goggling, awestruck. Severus, though, barely glanced at them. Lily's hand was still on his arm and he stared at it, looking exceptionally delighted.

Professor McGonagall stopped them in front of an immense set of gilded doors.

"The sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes. It will occur in front of the entire student body, so I suggest you smarten up before presenting yourselves in front of your new classmates." She left the chamber.

An assortment of nervous habits abounded. Severus scuffed the stone floor with his shoe. Dorcas, the girl Alice had introduced, began to peel at split ends. Alice herself was furiously gnawing on a thumbnail. The boy with glasses fluffed up his already messy black hair, and the other boy who'd talked to them in their first compartment crossed and uncrossed his arms about a dozen times. Remus was picking at a scab on his earlobe. Lily surveyed all this and bit her lower was it that they had to do? And why oh why did it have to take place in front of the entire school? She took a deep breath. _Relax. Everything is going to be fine_.

Professor McGonagall was back. The group followed her through the doors and into the Great Hall. _Oh, it's beautiful, _Lily thought, gazing at the ceiling in amazement. Candles floated about the arches in the ceiling. They were the lights brightening the star-less night sky. The students stopped short in front of a stool with a very battered, patched, old witch's hat resting on it. Then all of a sudden, a rip near the base of it opened, and it began to sing.

The hat sang praises to all four founders of Hogwarts. There was Ravenclaw the wise, Slytherin the ambitious, Hufflepuff the just, and Gryffindor the brave. _Gryffindor the brave._ Lily liked the sound of that. She knew that Sev wanted her in Slytherin with him, and she wanted to be in the same house with him too, but something about Gryffindor was very endearing. Gryffindors were brave, and Lily needed to be brave in this strange place. She needed to be brave in the face of all these new, fast-paced experiences. Her family wasn't going to be here to help her, and she was going to have to be brave.

When the Sorting Hat had finished, the hall burst into applause. Lily and the others joined in.

"Please come forward when I call your name," Professor McGonagall directed. "Avery, Rolf!"

Lily held her breath in as Rolf Avery walked up to the hat. He was a tall, thick, blond boy. The hat had only barely grazed his head before it shouted out,

"SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherin table clapped and Professor McGonagall called the next name.

"Black, Sirius!"

It was the boy from the train. The one with impressive locks of hair. He appeared a bit pale as he sat down on the stool and let the Sorting Hat slip over his eyes.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table applauded uncertainly. Black took off the hat. Lily looked on with all the others as he walked over to his new housemates, white as a sheet. The Slytherins were all muttering to each other. Then half way there, Black smiled spectacularly and let out an unexpected whoop of relief. The Gryffindors laughed and patted him on the back.

Corner, Gabriel went to Ravenclaw and Chase, Bert was a Hufflepuff. Lily wiped sweaty palms on her robes as Professor McGonagall began to call out the last names that began with the letter D. Davies, Lucas was a Ravenclaw. Derwin, Cate was a Slytherin. Dougherty, Kelly was a Hufflepuff.

At last, Professor McGonagall articulated, "Evans, Lily!"

Lily walked up to the Sorting Hat, her knees shaking. She sat down on the stool and let the over-sized hat fall over her eyes. A little voice spoke in her ear.

_Fantastic mind, vastly intelligent. Oh! But what a brave soul you have. Better be… _

"GRYFFINDOR!" It shouted the last word aloud. Lily heaved a sigh and trotted over to her new housemates, who were applauding enthusiastically. She cast one last, apologetic look at Severus before sitting down at the table.

Lily enjoyed the sorting much more now that the nerve-racking suspense was over._ I'd hate to be last,_ she thought as Remus came over and sat down at their table next to Black. She clapped along with the rest of the Gryffindor table as a girl named Mary McDonald joined them.

"Meadowes, Dorcas!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat announced.

Lily smiled as the blonde, athletic-looking girl bounded over and slid onto the bench between Mary and herself.

The first hat-stall transpired when Pettigrew, Peter was called. He sat on the stool for a good three minutes and forty-four seconds before rushing over to the Gryffindors. The boy with glasses was called up next, though, and his sorting time made up for Peter's. As soon as the Sorting Hat had brushed against Potter, James' unruly black hair, it had shouted out the word,

"GRYFFINDOR!"

James Potter slammed hands with Sirius Black and slid into the seat beside him. Lily heard Professor McGonagall call out,

"Prewett, Alice!"

And, after only a little while, Lily beamed up at her new friend as she made her way to the Gryffindor table.

Then finally,

"Snape, Severus!"

Lily watched her best friend approach the hat anxiously, nibbling at her lower lip.

"SLYTHERIN!" vociferated the Sorting Hat.

Her shoulders sagged just a little, but she put on an encouraging smile for Severus when he glanced her way. Then he turned his back and accepted the Slytherins' applause.


	6. The Beginning

**The Beginning**** (Lily) **

The next first year called up was "Stebbins, Clive" for Hufflepuff, but Lily didn't really pay that much attention after that. _You're being silly,_ she told herself_. You knew that Sev wanted to be in Slytherin. Besides, it's not as if you'll never see him again. He just won't be sharing the same common room and stuff._ The sorting ceremony finally ended with Yaxley, Jorge for Slytherin. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore got to his feet and smiled at the congregated students and staff.

"Welcome all of you, to another year at Hogwarts. Before we begin our bountiful feast, I would like to take the time to say a few words. Here they are: kerefuffle, noodles, penguin, boink!"

With that, the marvelous golden platters instantaneously filled with food. Lily grinned widely and began scooping mashed potatoes onto her plate. She hadn't realized she was so hungry. She was just about to take a bite of Sheppard's Pie when Mary McDonald screamed. Translucent silver figures were sailing through the hall. A ghost with puffy sleeves and an extraordinarily plumed hat floated over to them.

"Good day to you! I am Sir Nicholas DeMimsey-Porpington, at your service."

"But-but you're _dead_," said Mary emphatically.

"Yes," Sir Nicholas answered pompously. "I am."

"My dad told me about you," said Potter suddenly. "You're Nearly-headless Nick!"

"I've been called that before," the ghost conceded in an irritated tone of voice.

"What makes you only _nearly_ headless?" Black questioned.

Nearly-headless Nick sighed hugely through his nose and tugged on his ear so that his head dangled off his neck by only a half-inch of skin.

Alice blanched, and Mary and Peter also appeared a bit queasy, but Black and Potter thought it was neat. Lily just rolled her eyes.

At the end of the feast Professor Dumbledore raised his hands for silence and the platters became clear of food.

"A few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I would like to present to you Professor Kanks, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

There was a smattering of applause.

"In addition, first year students should note that the forest is forbidden to all pupils and that the use of magic in the corridors is not allowed," Dumbledore continued, peering down at them from over his half-moon spectacles. "Quidditch trials will be held in the third week of term. Anyone interested should contact their house Quidditch captain. Now, before we go to bed, let us all sing our school song!"

The teachers' expressions seemed to grow rather fixed. Professor McGonagall's mouth, for instance, became a very thin line. Lily giggled.

"Pick your favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" He flicked his wand and golden words shimmered in mid-air like a giant, magical karaoke machine.

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy, Warty Hogwarts

Teach us something please

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff

Right now they're bare and full of air

Dead flies and bits of fluff

So teach us things worth knowing

Bring back what we've forgot

Just do your best we'll do the rest

And learn 'til our brains all rot!

"Ah music, music," sighed Dumbledore. "Now off to your dorms you trot."

The first year Gryffindor students were rounded up by a pair of prefects and marched through many similar-looking corridors and ever-changing stairways until they made it to their tower. Inside there was a circular common room that looked very cozy, what with its comfy red arm chairs and roaring fire all aglow in the hearth. Tiredly, Lily led the girls up their staircase to a landing with a door marked: First Years' Dormitories. The girls turned the knob and looked in on four, four-poster beds with gold and scarlet drapery. The girls' luggage had already been transported up and placed at the foot of each of the beds. Lily found her trunk and took out some toiletries and a pair of pajamas. She and the others got into bed, prepared for a night of giggling and sharing stories. But before she knew it, Lily's eyelids were getting heavier and heavier.


	7. Of the Beginning

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created for the Harry Potter books. **_

_**A/N: Tada! It's a James-chapter. Hurray! **_

**Of the Beginning**** (James)**

"Psst. Sirius, are you still awake?" James whispered.

"Naturally," came the reply.

"Remus?" James asked.

"I think he's asleep," said Peter.

"Already?" the other boy's tone was astonished.

"You know," said Peter with an audible yawn, "that might not be a bad idea. We always have tomorrow…"

"Come on, Peter. We need the rest of your firecrackers," James wheedled.

A snore rose up from Peter's four-poster.

Sirius gave off a bark of laughter. "I think he's off, mate. He won't be back until morning."

James sighed and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"A change in plans I guess," he began.

"We probably should snoop around before we pull anything," Sirius noted. "We got lucky on the train. If it wasn't for those Slytherin second years getting caught by the prefects, we would've been toast."

"And bacon," James agreed.

"Scrambled eggs," Sirius added.

"With pumpkin juice."

"Oh come off it, I'm starving."

"You just ate!" James snickered.

"That doesn't mean I'm not starving," his new friend grumbled into the darkness.

A brilliant plan began to form in James' mind.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Oh, not you too!" Sirius whined.

"Shh. It's about one o'clock, right?"

"Yeah."

James began to smile mischievously. "Then I know exactly what we're going to do."

"What are you doing?" Sirius hissed. James was already kneeling at his trunk, rummaging around for something.

"You'll see," he answered, grinning mysteriously.

"_No way_," whisper-shouted Sirius, rubbing his eyes. "Is that what I think it is?"

James nodded. "It was my dad's."

"A legitimate invisibility cloak," Sirius said in awe. "We're going to have a time with this."

"You bet. Now, the way I see it, we have a good five hours to find the kitchens. Then all we have to do is stock up on enough coffee to get through the rest of the day."

"I like the way you think."

"Rise and shine bunkmates!" James called. "It's the first day of Hogwarts! Get your freshly ground cuppa right now while it's hot! Up! Up! Up!"

Peter's pink, protruding nose twitched.

"We found some coco powder too," Sirius added, jittering up and down on the bedspread.

Remus sat up immediately.

"Coco?"

Sirius laughed and Remus' cheeks colored a little.

"That's it," James encouraged. "It's right here in the pot. Breakfast for real will be starting in ten."

"Well look who decided to get up this morning," James commented as the girls trundled up to the Gryffindor table twenty-four minutes later. Evans shot him a dirty look as she spooned herself some porridge.

"We got lost," Prewett explained to them pitifully.

"Damn staircases," Meadowes muttered.

Just then, Peter choked on the bacon he'd been gobbling down. Sirius laughed and pounded him on the back merrily.

"What's your favorite Quidditch team Remus?" James wanted to know as he passed the other boy his time table.

Remus looked up quickly from the sports' section of the _Daily Prophet_.

"Dunno," he mumbled, then went back to his toast.

"Oh come off it. You've got to have a team-"

"Oh look!" cried Evans excitedly. She had actually taken the time to look through her entire time table. "We have Potions and History of Magic with Slytherin."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "What's so_ wonderful _about Slytherin?"

"Bet you're just happy to see your boyfriend again," James scoffed.

Evans' face began to get as red as her super-red hair.

"He is _not_ my boyfriend."

"Well, he's an ugly little sucker, so I'm not surprised," Sirius elucidated cheekily.

If looks could kill, they would've both been dead men. Evans flipped her sun-bright hair and stalked off. James shook his head while Sirius sniggered.

"You're going the wrong _way_!" they sang together.

"Maybe we should actually sleep tonight," James suggested as they traipsed up to the west tower for the fourth time because the staircases kept changing on them.

"That's not too bad of an idea there, mate," Sirius agreed, panting.

"And we have all those stupid theoretical worksheets for Defense to do before we can get to anything anyway," James sighed.

"Hi guys," Evans greeted. Their spat from that morning seemed to have left her mind for the moment. "Do you know where the owlery is?"

"We're going there now," James told her, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "You can tag along if you want."

Evans arched an auburn eyebrow. "Tag along?" she enunciated with a bite of acid.

James rolled his eyes. "Oh come off it, Evans."

She shook her head. "No, that's alright. I wouldn't want to inconvenience the two of you with my _tagging along_."

"Merlin, Evans. That's not what he meant," started Sirius.

"Sure it was," James remarked calmly. "She heard me right."

Evans turned on her heel and walked off.

"Don't get lost, alright Evans?"

For some reason, that girl just set his teeth on edge.

Truthfully though, Evans had a bloody awful sense of direction. The first year Gryffindors had Herbology in the Greenhouses with the Hufflepuffs after lunch, and by the time the bell had rung for the start of class, the little red-headed girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Where could she have gone off to?" Prewett wondered worriedly.

"She's probably fine," Sirius assured her.

"Sorry 'bout that, Professor," Hagrid announced, strolling into the Greenhouse. "I slowed Lily here down so tha' she could help me with the pum'kins in me garden." He gave Lily a broad wink behind Professor Sprout's back and Evans promptly blushed and stared at her shoes.

"That's quite all right," Professor Sprout said kindly. "Take a pot over at that table with your classmates, Ms. Evans."

"Thank you Professor," Evans mumbled quietly.

"I'll see ya fo' tea then, Lily," said the giant.

"Thanks Hagrid," she whispered.

Sirius tapped an imaginary watch on his wrist and tsked, shaking his head. Evans made a face at him. Then she turned to stand next to Prewett and began re-potting her sapling.

"That would've been a brilliant class to have had first thing," Sirius said, wiping slobber off his cheek. Their last class of the day had been History of Magic, and it had proved to be dreadfully boring. The only people who had stayed awake had been Evans and Snivellus Snape the Slytherin Slimeball.

And, speak of the elder wand and others will flock to it, here the two came walking towards them.

"What a stroke of luck," laughed Sirius. "Hey Evans, you wouldn't mind letting us look off your notes, would you?"

Both Snape and Evans looked scandalized.

"Pretty please?" he pouted. "You're the only one who got anything down before falling asleep."

"You should have thought of that before you dropped off then," Evans told him sternly. "Besides, that's cheating."

"Well not really, seeing as Binns showed the notes to the whole class…" James protested.

"Sorry guys, the answer is no. I'll see you around."

Snape gave each of them the stink-eye before following her.

"Well then," said Sirius.

James tilted onto the two back legs of his chair. They were sitting in their first class of their second day, Charms. Tiny Professor Flitwick was explaining some basic mechanics of wand-work as his enchanted piece of chalk wrote out the notes on the board for the students to copy. _This is boring,_ James thought.

"This theory nonsense is bloody dull," Sirius complained quietly, as if he'd read James' mind.

"Tell me about it," Corner mumbled from the table next to them. His fellow Ravenclaw, Tern, the boy who'd coined the name "Snivellus" back on the train, snorted derisively.

"You would think that we'd know which way to point our wands, wouldn't you?" he snickered.

The other boys laughed quietly. But apparently not quietly enough, because Evans turned around and put a finger to her lips to shush them. Sirius and James stuck out their tongues in synchronization. Evans shifted her hand and let her other digits join her index finger in covering up her smile. James winked and she rolled her big green eyes and angled back towards the front of the classroom.

_**A/N: Thanks for reading! It would be stupendous if you could leave a review!**_


	8. To Learn Through Schooling

**To Learn Through Schooling ****(Lily) **

The first year Gryffindors were also paired with the first year Ravenclaws in their next class, Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall watched them like a hawk as they all found their seats. Not even Black and Potter screwed around under her scrutiny.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she informed them steadily. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

With that, she whipped out her wand and transformed her desk into a pig, then back again.

"Whoa!"

"Wicked!"

"Merlin's beard!"

Lily exchanged extra excited looks with Mary.

McGonagall then began to prepare them all with a score of extremely complicated notes that were to be memorized by next week. The bell rang and Lily felt a little let down. She'd wanted to try something.

"We have double Transfiguration today!" Potter crowed after a peek at their time table. He knuckle-bumped Black before everyone centered their attention back on Professor McGonagall.

She flicked her wrist and one box of matches sailed over to every pair of students.

"The practical portion of this lesson will be to transfigure a match into a needle." She gave them a nod. "Off you go."

_Finally_, they'd be actually _using_ magic. Lily couldn't pretend that she hadn't been desperately anticipating this. She lifted her wand and pointed at the matchstick and uttered the magic words aloud.

Nothing happened.

Well, maybe she was holding it wrong. She tightened her grip and tried again. The same results occurred. Lily looked around. Not one of Alice, Dorcas, or Mary's matches had changed a bit. Then she heard Potter's jubilant cry of success.

"I got it! I got it! Look Professor! Look!"

McGonagall was there in an instant, inspecting Potter's sharp, shiny, silver needle. Her faint black eyebrows rose high up her forehead.

"Very good, Mr. Potter. Two points will be rewarded to Gryffindor."

Potter grinned foolishly up at her.

"Well?" inquired Professor McGonagall. "You have a whole box."

Lily concentrated back on her matchstick. Maybe if she waved her wand a bit more?

"I got it!" Black yelled triumphantly, waving his needle around.

"Put that down before you put someone's eye out, Mr. Black," McGonagall reprimanded sternly. Then she took a look at his work. "Well done, another two points to Gryffindor."

The Ravenclaws began to look rather sore at this point. Lily focused back on her match. Both Potter and Black had done it in the first five minutes, that meant there had to be some sort of trick to it, didn't it? She tried again to no avail. And again. And again.

Forty-five minutes later, Black and Potter were amassing their own personal army of needles when McGonagall stumped them.

"Turn it to a different metal. Preferably one whose difference can be seen visibly."

They just stared at her. She gave them a rare smile and passed their desk to go look and see how everyone else was doing. Lily grinned, pointed her wand at her matchstick and said the words.

Something changed.

Lily cautiously put her hand in the air. "Professor?"

"Yes, Ms. Evans?"

"Could you look at my match please? I mean, I'm not sure if it's a match anymore exactly."

Professor McGonagall peered through the eye of Lily's wooden needle, then tested the point with her finger.

"Very good, Ms. Evans. This is a serviceable needle. You're almost there. Try to picture it with more of a metallic substance next time. You may use a different matchstick."

Mary smiled at Lily, impressed. And, by the time the bell rang for the end of Transfiguration, the very tip of Lily's needle had turned to steel. Professor McGonagall gave her a nod and Lily felt her heart soar.

"Eleven at night?" Mary repeated. "But that's so late!"

"Don't be such a baby, McDonald," Potter mocked.

Lily shot him a look. The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first years were navigating their way down to the Great Hall from the Astronomy Tower. After a brief introduction, Professor Sinistra had told them to meet her again at eleven o'clock sharp for observations.

"Tomorrow's Saturday anyway," Potter continued. "You'll be able to sleep in if you want to." He led the boys down the stairs.

"I guess he's right," mumbled Mary.

The girls had made it past the next landing when they heard a wicked snigger.

"Ooooohh! Ickle firsties, what fun!"

Then the water balloons hit. Shrieks and splashes ensued. All the while, Peeves the Poltergeist cackled ferociously.

"Splish splash! Splish splash! Splishy splashy fishy fishies!"

Lily felt cold water soak through her robes as he got her in the shoulder. Alice screamed. Peeves had dropped seven water balloons on her head all at once. The girls ran for it, trying not to slip on the wet stairs. Dorcas shrilled a high one as Peeves' last water balloon burst against the back of her neck.

"Heehheheheheheeeeeeeee!" Then the poltergeist vanished away with a little pop.

"What happened to you?" Potter chortled as the girls squished into the Great Hall. Black began to laugh so hard that he nearly suffocated on his sprouts. Potter hammered him on the back good-naturedly.

The Gryffindor girls didn't deign to reply, but they were very grateful when Professor Flitwick did a wee household spell that instantly dried their clothes.

Severus sat through her rant about the incident all the while they procured their boil cure in potions class that afternoon. He nodded sympathetically while she blasted her temper out.

"Yeah," he said, finally getting some words in. "Peeves has been swooping around and pulling at people's noses. I've seen him. He'll be going for us next, probably."

"I don't think even Peeves would go for your schnoze Snivellus." Potter grinned over at them.

"Oooh, GOT YOUR CONK- Aargh, it's a grease spot!" squalled Black in a particularly exact imitation of Peeves' nasal voice.

The Slytherin boy opened his mouth to say something, but Lily shook her head.

"Don't pay any attention to them, Severus," she said, leaning over their cauldron.

Professor Slughorn, the Potions Master, walked along the rows of students, looking at each potion in turn. He passed quickly before Alice and Mary's concoction, gagging. He nodded at Black and Potter's brew, then had a coughing fit from the fumes emitted off of Remus and Pettigrew's potion. But when he walked up to Severus and Lily, he burst into a dazzling smile.

"Oh ho! Perfect; Ten points to Slytherin and Gryffindor each. Very good Mr. Snape and Ms…?"

"Evans, sir," Lily cheeped, turning pink. "Lily Evans. It was Severus who did this mostly though…"

But Professor Slughorn wasn't paying attention.

"Evans, Evans," he mumbled. "Any relation to Cameron Marks-Evans? She was the first witch the brew Amortentia…"

Lily's pink blush darkened into strawberry, then scarlet.

"Um, no sir. I'm a muggle-born. And I, well I don't quite fancy brewing up a love potion anytime soon either, sir."

"Pert," Slughorn chuckled, wagging his finger. "Pert, Ms. Evans. Well, I really thought, but no matter! Another point for knowing what amortentia was. I hope to see more potioneering talent from you in the future."

"Please sir; Severus did all the difficult parts…" she trailed off and gave her friend an apologetic look. He shrugged. Once again, Professor Slughorn was not listening.

Severus got up to put their nettles back in the student stores. Lily didn't see exactly, but as he was passing Remus and Pettigrew's cauldron, he seemed to slip. The sulfurous smelling, steamy pot toppled over and doused Potter and Black with its contents.

"Ouch!"

"Blimey!"

"Are you alright?" Remus and Peter asked, apologizing over and over again.

Boils began to erupt all over their skin. Potter let out a shout and Black a string of curses. Some of the boils began to pop and ooze. Truncated volcanoes spouted pus.

"Now, now. Everyone calm down," Slughorn said loudly. "Ms. Evans, I require your boil cure."

Lily quickly ladled some of her potion into flasks.

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Ms. Evans. Here boys, drink up."

Black and Potter gulped down the potion directly. The boils began to disappear and they heaved a relieved sigh.

Potter rubbed his eyes under his glasses. "Thanks Evans."

"You saved my face," Sirius said graciously.

Lily giggled. "You're welcome."

She didn't see Severus' look of chagrin, but his victims sure did.

"I promised Hagrid I would visit him for tea after classes today," Lily told her best friend as they journeyed up from the potions dungeon. "Do you want to come?"

"I have to study," Severus said shortly.

"Oh, come on, Sev. That's no fun," she teased gently, half smiling.

He shook his head.

"Oh. Okay." The smile slowly began slipping off her face. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

He shrugged. "I'll be in the library."

Lily asked Alice next.

"Of course, that sounds grand," her new friend replied, accepting the invitation. The girls dropped off their satchels in their dorm then made their way across the grounds to Hagrid's hut. They knocked on the big, wooden door and waited for him to answer it.

"Hi Hagrid," Lily greeted.

"Hello, hello," he answered cheerily, ushering them in.

A rooster with superb plumage was strutting around Hagrid's kitchen table.

"He's gorgeous," Lily complimented, reaching out to pet him. His beak snapped and she jerked back her fingers just in time. "Thanks," she muttered at the creature.

"Tha's a chanticleer, tha' is," said Hagrid proudly.

"Um, Hagrid?" Alice squeaked, slightly alarmed. "Can't those things breathe fire?"

"Well, yeah, now tha' yeh mention it, they do." The kettle began to whistle. "Oh. There's yer tea."

Alice's eyes widened as the chanticleer gave a bitty cough and a shower of sparks flew out his mouth.

"Uh Hagrid?" Lily started casually. "Don't you live in a wooden house?"

"Yep." He patted one of the rafters fondly. "Nice cedar this is. Cleared it out of the Forbidden Forest meself."

Lily bit down on one of the tea cakes and nearly cracked a tooth. She nudged Alice and gave a slight shake of the head. The other girl nodded and sipped at her tea instead. The chanticleer squawked. Alice jumped.

"Y'know, I was thinkin' abou' breedin' 'im…" Hagrid mentioned, ruffling the bird's plumage.

"Not with real chickens?" Alice interjected with a start. "Because you could get in big trouble mixing-"

"Nah," Hagrid said. "Don' get fertilized now do they? I'm thinkin' abou' gettin' some more. The fellow I got Corbin from is still down in the village."

"Corbin?" Lily asked.

"Tha's his name. Do ya like it?"

"It's brilliant, Hagrid."

He beamed down at her from behind his bushy black beard.

Lily marched up the stairs to the Astronomy Tower with the rest of the Gryffindor girls. It was late and the ever-burning fires in the braziers danced patterns of light off the marble floors. Portraits yawned, but Lily was wide awake. Who'd ever heard of a lesson in the middle of the night? This was so awesome.

"It's kind of spooky," Mary said. "Being up and about in the castle in the middle of the night."

Dorcas rolled her eyes.

"I mean, it's cool," she clarified quickly. "But, you know, it's still spooky."

Dorcas unlatched the trap-door leading to the tip-top of the Astronomy Tower and the other three girls followed her up. _Wow,_ Lily thought, gazing up at the sky. _Just how many stars are there?_

"Good evening, class," said Professor Sinistra. "Does everyone have their text book and telescope with them?"

The amassed Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors nodded.

"Good. Today you will each learn how to set up your instrument, and then find and mark a constellation of your choice. By the end of the season you will have mapped out the autumnal night sky. You will be working in pairs for your first lesson."

"Awesome!" Black grinned.

Lily saw Potter point between himself and Black repeatedly, an identical grin on his face.

"_I_ will be picking your partners for you," Professor Sinistra told them, half amused.

Everyone deflated a bantam bit.

"But Professor…" Potter whined.

She silenced him with a teacher-look.

Lily rolled her eyes. Why didn't he just grow up? He wasn't going to get everything he wanted at all times.

"Ms. Dougherty and Mr. Lupin," Professor Sinistra called out. "Ms. Meadowes and Mr. Black."

Dorcas sent Lily a just-kill-me-now look. Mary saw it and laughed.

"Ms. McDonald and Mr. Chase." She flipped over her piece of parchment. "Ms. Evans and Mr. Potter."

Lily's shoulders sagged. Was she serious? She had to work with Potter? He didn't look too happy about it either, she could tell. That made Lily just a bit miffed. After all, she'd never done anything to him. In fact, she'd _helped_ him. He was the one who was annoying.

"Alright," Lily grumbled. "Let's get this over with."

Potter raised his eyebrows. Then he quickly set his instrument down on the parapet and began fiddling with the finders.

"Careful with that," Lily warned. "It might fall."

Potter only rolled his eyes. Lily ground her teeth. _What was with him?_ She slowly lowered her pre-assembled telescope onto the wall next to his. Was this aligned to the north properly? She tried to look through the eye-piece. No, something was wrong. It was all blurry.

"I found Cetus," Potter announced.

"Yay," she responded, irked. She still couldn't see through hers.

"Need some help Evans?" He was already sketching his constellation down.

"No, I've almost got it."

Potter laughed. "No you don't."

She bristled. "I said _almost_. Just hold on a second, will you?"

"Evans-"

"Shut it."

"Fine."

Now he was angry. Let him be. He was annoying. He was irritating. He was full of himself. He thought he was best at everything just because of Transfiguration. He… He hadn't deserved that.

She rocked back on her heels away from the telescope.

"Look, I'm sorry. It's just I've only ever used one of these once before and I've never been allowed to actually touch the knobs and it's not focusing and I don't know why."

"Let me see?"

She moved away and let him squint through the eye-piece.

"Move that one to the left. Away from you, that is."

Lily did so and the stars aligned.

"Wow. Thanks Potter."

"No need to sound surprised," he laughed.

"I think I found Triangulum."

"Really? Can I see?" He took a look and snickered. "Just because it looks like a triangle to you doesn't mean it's _the_ Triangle, Evans."

"Well how was I supposed to know?"

"Perhaps you could have used your eyes?"

Lily huffed and found the right constellation in her book.

Potter laughed. "It looks like you have a red monocle around your eye."

"What?"

"From the telescope. You were pressing your eye to it, weren't you?"

"Am I not supposed to do that?"

"Not really."

"Oh."

"Don't worry about it, Evans," Potter chuckled. "It'll go away."

She rubbed at her eye. "How do you know about all this stuff anyway?"

"My mum taught me," he replied.

"You were homeschooled?" Lily queried, surprised.

Potter nodded. "Mostly. There were some tutors and stuff though."

"So you didn't go to Primary School?" Lily clarified as she sketched out Cetus.

He cocked his head to the side, the hair sticking up in the back making him look a lot like Corbin the chanticleer. "What's Primary School?"

_Well that answers that._ "It's where muggles learn about math and reading and stuff."

"They have their own school for that?"

"Yeah."

"That's actually kind of cool."

Lily laughed. "You only say that because you never went there."

"You only say that because you got to go."


	9. To School Some of Learning

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created for the Harry Potter books. **_

**To School Some Of Learning**** (James)**

James and Sirius slept so late on Saturday morning that they missed breakfast all together.

"Doesn't matter," James yawned as they pushed through the portrait hole. "We'll find something in the kitchens."

The two boys were getting much better at maneuvering the castle, and soon they found themselves in front of a picture of fruit.

"Do you want to do the honors?" James asked his friend.

Sirius tipped his pointed hat suavely, then stretched out his arm and tickled the pear.

"Hehe!" It squirmed and giggled.

The lads grinned and stepped into the kitchen.

"What would you like this morning, young sirs?" squeaked a house elf.

"If you could spare us a spot of eggs and bacon you'd be a life-saver, Pimby," James expressed, smiling.

"Right away," came the reply.

And, soon enough, two platefuls of hot scrambled eggs and bacon were served right up.

"This school really knows how to feed a fellow," Sirius remarked, leaning against one of the five long tables.

James nodded vigorously in affirmative, his mouth stuffed with fluffy yellow scrambled eggs. He swallowed.

"So what are we going to do about Snivellus?"

"I was thinking something boil related, myself," Sirius replied after a bite of bacon. "We've already made a boil _cure_. It shouldn't be too hard to brew a boil _maker_."

"Excellent. Now how are we going to get our sniveling friend the potion?"

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, then stopped. "I don't rightly know."

The boys stared around the kitchen with thoughtful expressions on their faces. The house elves swarmed about, busily making preparations for lunch. A chicken was carving itself. Some celery got chopped up and dumped into a pot. Delicious smells rose out of one of the brick ovens as four house elves pulled out a big loaf of bread on a paddle. James sat down at the table that would've been the Gryffindor one if it had been in the Great Hall above. _The Great Hall above._ He cast a look at the five, carefully positioned tables in the oddly spacious kitchen.

"Pimby," James asked suddenly. "What are these tables here for?"

"It's how us is sending the banquets to the Great Hall upstairs, young sir."

Sirius looked up, the hints of a devilish smile appearing on his lips.

"Now that's very efficient, isn't it?" James complimented. "And you put the settings on the tables exactly where you'd find them up there too?"

"Yes, sir," Pimby replied happily.

"That's excellent, Pimby, really excellent." James was grinning widely now. "And you send it up all at once just before dinner starts?"

"Us is doing the first serving, sir," the house elf answered him. "But the others us keeps sending every time a dish runs out."

"I see. That's truly remarkable, don't you think Sirius? House elves are incredibly resourceful creatures." He turned back to Pimby. "Thanks for the breakfast, Pimby. It was great. We'll see you around sometime soon."

"Thank you young sirs. Do come again. Have a pleasant day."

"It's perfect," chortled Sirius as the boys made their way to the library.

James nodded in agreement. "Now all we have to do is find the right potion and get the right ingredients."

"Well that shouldn't be too hard." Sirius shrugged in return.

Snape and Evans were sitting at a round table near the potions section, studying. As one, James and Sirius decided to slowly circle the shelves and disappear out of their view. James glanced along the beginner's potion shelf and found _The A-Z Guide to Payback Potions._ He turned to the Table of Contents. Be- Bi- Bo- Boi-. _Ah, here we go_, thought James. He knelt down next to the shelf and selected the chapter on brewing boils.

A tome pushed through from the other side of the book shelf and fell with a thump on the crown of the young wizard's head.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"We're so sorry!" whispered Evans. "Are you alright?"

James stood up and looked through the gap in the shelf only to see an apologetic looking Evans. Snape was sliming away, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

"Oi, he did that on purpose." Sirius joined them.

"What are you talking about?" Evans snapped.

"He pushed that frickin' encyclopedia on James' head."

"It was an accident," Evans returned defensively.

"I saw him push it!"

"Yeah, _on accident."_

"And what about the cauldron yesterday?" James put in.

"What about it?"

"He just _happened_ to push it over so it spilled all over us, didn't he?"

"He _slipped and fell_. And it's not like it did any lasting damage. Why are you worrying about it?"

"Because he did it on purpose!" Sirius answered hotly. "If it really was an accident, we wouldn't be worried about it one bit."

"Isn't it odd that he just happens to be clumsy whenever he can get us hurt? He seems to be pretty nimble on his toes the rest of the time." James raised his eyebrows at her.

Evans' look of outrage turned to one of rage. Her pale skin started getting dark red.

"How dare you? How _dare_ you? He didn't do anything wrong!"

Sirius snorted.

Evans turned on him, eyes blazing. "Haven't you ever heard of the phrase to forgive and forget? What is wrong with the both of you? You can't go around accusing perfectly innocent people because-"

"He's not innocent!" James interjected angrily.

"-because you don't like them! Not everything is about you."

"That slimy little bugger-"

"He didn't do anything!"

"Well why isn't he here to defend himself?" Sirius wanted to know.

"He's checking out a book."

"Sure he is." Sirius rolled his eyes.

"He is! It's a perfectly normal occupation in a library. It's probably more regulatory than whatever the two of _you_ are doing."

"We're doing homework," Sirius lied easily.

"Good for you. So am I."

"No you're not," scoffed James.

"Excuse me?" squeaked Evans, dangerously close to blowing up.

"You're here to flirt with a scummy piece of a troll's foot fungus."

His friend laughed.

Evans did not. James could almost picture the vapor whistling out of her ears like a steam engine. Her face was the same color as the Hogwarts Express.

"Why do you have to be such a, such an-" she lowered her voice to a ridiculous decibel. "-such an _arse?"_ She turned pale again because of the uttered swear word.

James and Sirius cracked up.

Evans glared at them. Then she reeled around and stomped off.

"Did you see her face?" Sirius guffawed.

The shadow of a vulture-shaped middle-aged witch descended on them.

"Detention," she hissed. "That is far more noise than a library should ever have to bear."

"Stupid bloody prat," James grumbled once they were back in their dorm. "She knew Mme. Pince was lurking around there."

"Wow. You guys got detention already?" Peter asked in awe. "But it's only the third day."

"Yeah, we know," Sirius groaned.

Remus came in carrying a stack of books. He had big black circles under his eyes and his cheeks looked chalky and clammy.

James rolled off of his bed and looked at him, concerned. "Are you feeling alright there, mate?"

The other boy nodded and thunked his books beside his bed.

"You sure?"

"I'm just a little tired," he replied.

"You should've slept in like we did," James suggested.

Remus just shrugged.

"Have you guys done the Charms homework yet?" Peter asked hopefully.

"Not yet," Sirius answered. "But it was kind of simple. We should probably get it out of the way while we can."

"How about we all work on it together?" James proposed.

"Good idea," said the tubby little boy on the adjacent bed.

Sirius laughed. "Come help us out Remus."

The other young wizard looked startled. "O-okay."

James and Sirius were exploring the grounds around the greenhouses. Sirius leapt on top of a boulder and pin-wheeled his arms to retain his balance.

"I am king of the rock," he announced.

James slow-clapped. "Congratulations. Have you figured out where we're going to find crawdad claws, your majesty?"

His friend jumped down.

James took this opportunity to change the boulder's sovereignty.

"You're not the king anymore," he pointed out from above Sirius' head.

"It was a sorry little kingdom," came the response. "The crawdad claws are probably somewhere in the potions dungeon. If not, they might be in Slughorn's office or something. I think they're pretty basic materials, though, so it shouldn't be too terribly hard to find." He shoved James off the rock. "We'll take the cloak and have a look sometime after our detention tomorrow."

James caught himself Tarzan-style before he could fall on the grass. He stood up and straightened his glasses. "You know, that's not too bad of a plan."

"Thank you," said Sirius, bowing elegantly.

"How are we going to get it into Snivellus' food only, though?"

Sirius shrugged. "We'll get there when we get there."

James raised an eyebrow and pushed at his friend's shoulder.

"Oof. Oh come on, if we prank a few more Slytherins, so much the better."

"True." James put a hand through his hair and began to smile.

"What?"

"Well, what if we put the potion in _all_ of the Slytherins' food?"

"And drink?"

"And drink."

"That's a bloody brilliant idea."

"Indubitably."

"Hey Remus, you feeling better?" James asked at lunch on Tuesday.

He shrugged. "A little. How was your detention?"

Sirius groaned. "I'm not cut out for that sort of work."

James burst out laughing. "We were writing lines."

"Exactly. My poor hand will never be the same. It got all cramped."

At that, Peter began to laugh too and after a while Remus even joined in.

"What's wrong with the Slytherins?" Evans asked suddenly.

"Why should we blooming care?" Sirius shot back with a smirk.

James snickered.

Evans eyed them both suspiciously.

The news was out in the next hour. Half of Slytherin house had turned up at the Hospital Wing with boils. Boils on their noses, boils in their ears, boils between their toes, boils on their bottoms. The other half just grimaced by with boils popping up on the back of their hands, still going to their classes.

"You did that," Evans exclaimed that night in the common room. "You hurt all those people because you have some sort of grudge against Severus."

"Oh come off it, Evans," said James. "It was a joke. Mme Pomfrey fixed them up. They're fine now." His eyes glinted from behind his glasses. "No lasting damage."

Evans huffed. "You guys are all okay with this?" she addressed her fellow Gryffindor first years.

"It was just a prank.." Mary said quietly.

"And it was kind of funny," Dorcas agreed.

Peter began to snigger.

Evans crossed her arms.

Sirius spread his hands as if to say,_ "What did we tell you?" _

The red-headed girl marched up the stairs to her dorm crossly.

"Do you think you guys could teach me to prank like that?" Peter asked as they were getting ready for bed.

"Certainly," James answered, grinning. "You still have those fire crackers, don't you?"

Peter nodded.

"Then that's going to be our first line of action."

"Where'd you get those anyway," Sirius questioned the other boy.

"My uncle works at a shop that makes them, why?"

James and Sirius exchanged a look of two sneaky plotters.

Remus rolled his eyes. "You better not get Peter into too much trouble, you guys. They're going to find out who was behind the boils eventually."

"He speaks!" Sirius joked. "We were wondering where your mouth had walked off for a while there."

"Thanks." Remus took off his grey sweater. The white collared shirt underneath it had a rusty-looking stain on the upper-arm.

_Whoa, is that blood?_ James wondered. But before he could say anything, Remus retreated behind the curtains of his four-poster bed.

"_Run,"_ Sirius whisper-shouted.

The three boys took off down the hall. Nine seconds later, the fuse ran out. Pops and booms and cracks detonated all about the corridor.

"PEEVES!" Mr. Filch the caretaker was in a right state. The ends of his hair were smoking. His cat, Ms. Evangeline, had singed whiskers. Her yowl echoed along with the din of the fire crackers.

Peter, Sirius, and James laughed all the way to the Gryffindor common room.

"Did you see how that was done, Pete?" James chortled.

The dumpy boy nodded delightedly.

"Alright then. I know this great place to set the next one off the entrance to the Charms hallway. You can light it up after dinner."

"I suppose you thought that was very clever." Evans was standing right behind The Fat Lady's portrait as they entered.

"Blimey, Evans!" Sirius called out, clutching his chest. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"They're going to start taking points away soon. You know that, don't you?"

"That, my dear bossy prig," James laughed, "is where you are wrong."

All three boys could easily see the young witch's temper begin to flare.

"I'm not a bossy prig! You take that back."

"I'm sure you can hear the bossy priggish-ness of that last order, can't you?" James inquired of her.

"Shut up." Evans was anchoring her teeth into her bottom lip.

"Come on James," Sirius chuckled. "Tell her why she's wrong before her head blows off."

"Oh, which wrong thing was that? There are so many I can't seem to remember."

Evans' huge green eyes were oddly shiny. She took a deep breath through her tiny nose.

"The one about Peeves," Peter reminded him giddily.

"Oh yes. This is why we aren't going to get in any trouble for this, Evans. Filch thinks Peeves did it. It was actually a bit tricky to work out. Do you want to hear how we managed that wrong assumption of his?"

Evans sniffed as haughtily as she could, which wasn't that haughty at all because her chin was beginning to tremble.

"I say, Evans, are you alright? You haven't started yelling at us for no reason." Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Not to mention running off to a teacher with a tale of our adventures," his counterpart added.

"I've _never_ sold you out. I _would_ never- How can you even-?" She took another deep breath, turned on her heel, and strutted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories, her nose stuck in the air.

"Don't you want to hear about our spectacular endeavors?" Sirius called after her.

_**A/N: I hope I made the way that the house elves speak in some semblance of the way they're supposed to. Thanks for reading and please review if you can!**_


	10. Flying

**Flying ****(Lily) **

The door to the first year Gryffindor girls' dorm creaked.

"Lily?" Alice's voice drifted through the room.

She didn't answer.

The curtain rings rasped against the metal rod as Alice pushed back the scarlet drapes around Lily's bed. The girl sitting there rapidly began mopping her eyes with the sleeve of her cloak.

"I'm fine. I'm fine, I just-" She stopped, trying to think up a good lie.

"Hey," Alice said softly. She paused, a plate of food in her hand. "Do you want some dinner? There's only about ten minutes left now, so I thought maybe you'd get hungry or something."

"Thanks," Lily croaked. She cleared her throat. "Thanks." She took the plate from Alice's hands and held it in her lap. "Um, you can sit if you like."

Alice flounced down on the springy mattress. "Who's this?" She picked up a grey bunny from the coverlet.

Lily felt her cheeks, already flushed from crying, turn a bit pinker. "Oh. That's Thumper." She quickly but gently lifted the stuffed animal from Alice's hand and sat him safely by her side.

"Thumper?" Alice queried, not unkindly.

"He's from a Disney movie. The ones from America. Sorry, I mean… it's a muggle thing."

"That's alright. Most of my dolls are from _The Fountain of Fair Fortune_. You probably don't know what that is, either. It's funny, you know, all these differences between wizards and muggles, when we both live so close to one another."

Lily nodded silently and began picking at her dinner roll.

"What's it like?" she said at last. "Growing up with magic, I mean."

Alice shrugged. "It's not like I have anything to compare it to, really. Both of my parents are from pure-blooded families. I don't even know when the last of the squibs happened in my family, like Mary's, so I can't ask them about living with no magic. It's kind of always been there."

"Sorry, but what's a squib? And what does that have to do with Mary?"

Alice's round cheeks colored quickly.

"Oh, forget that I said that, Lily. It's none of my business. I shouldn't have said that…"

"What?"

Alice winced. "It's really her business…"

"Alice I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"There's nothing wrong with it," she enunciated carefully. "I just don't know how she feels about it. A lot of old families don't like talking about things like that."

Lily glowered. "Aaaaalice. You're driving me crazy. What's a squib?"

The other girl took a deep breath. "Sometimes there are children born into pure-blood families who don't have magic."

"What?"

"Yeah, I know. "

"How is that even possible?"

Alice shook her head. "No one has ever found out. It's magic. It doesn't really have a mind of its own, but no one really knows what raw magic does when it's not being channeled."

"That's so strange."

"Yeah. Anyway, the McDonalds are a very old wizarding family, but there aren't too many of them left. Mary's dad was the only son in his immediate family; you know, the only one who could pass on the name. He turned out to be a squib. He never possessed an inkling of magic. So, when he grew up, he left wizarding society, never to return. Well actually, the story goes that he snuck out, so he didn't have to get obliviated because of the Statute of Secrecy. But in any case he married a muggle and his family hadn't heard from him since. Or not until this summer."

Alice paused in her story.

"How do you know all this?" Lily questioned.

"Oh, I have a couple of aunts who like to gossip. All the pure-bloods know of the other pure-bloods' business, that's really the only perk to blood status that anyone I know can think of. It's not like we have more magic or anything. People are still prejudiced sometimes, though.

"Lily, you have to know that there's nothing wrong with being muggle-born. _I _don't think there's anything wrong with being muggle-born. But, you know, Mary's a muggle-born with a pure-blood name. It put a twist in a lot of people's wands."

"But why? It's nothing Mary did."

Alice shook her head. "I don't know."

"Well, if anyone gives her grief about it we're going to trounce them, aren't we?" Lily frowned and finished her dinner, putting her plate aside. "Who else is a pure-blood?"

"That you know?"

"Well, yeah. I guess."

"Lily, you only know the first year Gryffindors," Alice laughed.

"I'm learning. It's only been a week. And I have a friend in Slytherin, but he's not a pure-blood."

"Really?" Her friend looked interested. "Usually it's _only_ pure-bloods who get into that house."

Lily shrugged. "His dad's a muggle." She wasn't sure Sev would really appreciate it if she went into detail about his family.

"Well anyway, there's me, obviously, and then there's Peter." She looked down at her lap and her voice got quieter. "There're also Potter and Black."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense," Lily said shortly.

"They're wrong, you know. You're not a bossy prig."

The red-haired girl bit her lip, then forced out the words,

"I don't really care what they think."

Alice pushed her shoulders up to her ears and then let them fall again. "Well I think you're a pretty grand person, all in all," she said, patting her new friend's shoulder awkwardly.

Lily giggled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I just thought you might need it."

A buzz rose up from the first years in the common room the next day. Apparently it had been posted on the bulletin board that they would be having their first flying lessons by the end of the week.

"Sorry Meadowes. Cleansweeps are a better brand than Comets any day," Black insisted.

"Comets turn way faster, though," she countered.

"Oi, James old lad, back me up," Black hollered across the room to where Potter was doing his homework.

Potter only shrugged. "Comets have a more delicate handle, it's true. The thing with Comets, though, is that they can't maintain high speeds for very long before sputtering out. Cleansweeps are harder to maneuver into, say, a Wronskei Feint, but once they get up to speed they can maintain it. Certain models work great for certain positions and not so great for others. Could you _please _not get me mixed up in a Cleansweeps/Comets debate? I actually have to get this bloody Charms worksheet done."

Dorcas and Black returned to their bickering, but Lily was impressed in spite of herself. Flying was one of the things Severus hadn't really gone in depth on when he had been explaining the wizarding world to her. She looked down at Dorcas' copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages _lying there on the table. _Will flying a broom be anything like flying off the swing in the park? _Lily picked up the worn green book and began to read.

It seemed as though James Potter never ceased to talk about Quidditch.

"…Porskoff Ploy… the great match of 1878…"

Then he'd start it up again.

"…the Dopplebeater Defense was developed to…"

Two minutes later Lily's ears would tune in to,

"That Plumpton Pass was perfect…

"The Tinderblast was a fine model in its day but…

"Did you see how he angled his broom..?"

If only he would shut up. Or maybe talk about school work for a change.

"Blurting is actually really dangerous…

"And blagging is…

"The Transylvanian Tackle…"

And if Lily heard the name _"Catriona McCormack" _one more time, she was… well she didn't know what she'd do exactly, but it would be bad. _Nobody cares how many times she played for Scotland, _Lily seethed silently,_ it's not like they won or anything. _

If Lily was being honest with herself, however, Potter wasn't the only person feverishly anticipating flying lessons. For one thing, she was exceptionally excited in her own right. Dorcas and Black were going berserk. Remus was over the moon. Even Alice seemed incredibly interested. Still, what was all the fuss about? Severus didn't seem to think anything of it.

"Good afternoon, class," said a witch with cropped brown hair and yellow, hawk-like eyes.

"Good afternoon, Madam Hooch," chorused the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first years.

"I want you to stick your right hand over your broom, and say _"up."_

"UP!" everyone shouted.

The handle of Lily's broom strained toward her outstretched palm for a second before flopping back down to the ground. She sighed and looked up. Potter had commanded his broom to shoot straight into his grasp. Lily set her glittering green eyes on the school-issued Shooting Star laying on the grass before her. If Potter could do it, then so could she. She put out her hand steadily and ordered the broomstick in a loud voice,

"UP!"

The Shooting Star jumped into her hand and she caught it easily. Though she was still one of the few who were successful. Only Black, Dorcas, and a Hufflepuff girl she didn't know the name of had managed to seize their brooms additionally.

"You can do it," Lily said encouragingly to Mary, who was standing beside her. Like Lily, she'd never flown a broom in her life, but unlike the fiery little red-head, she was scared witless.

Eventually, each student managed to get a hold of their broom. The next set of instructions told them how and where to properly grip and mount the handles.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Mme. Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, then touch back down to the ground by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle- three- two- one- _TWEET!"_

They all managed that one. Then Mme. Hooch asked them to hover about twenty feet higher by tilting their handle upwards. By this time Mary was so anxious to get back down to the ground that when she landed, her weight was still too far forward and she fell over and got a mouthful of turf.

"Don't worry about it, Mary," Dorcas laughed as the other girl wiped her tongue on the sleeve of her robe. "You'll get it."

Next they maintained twenty feet, flew forward for about thirty feet, and touched back down to the ground. Lily noticed that Alice looked a bit ashen. She hoped she was all right.

After that they tried turning. This posed as more of a problem to the majority of the pupils. There were even a few falls from the Hufflepuffs, but Mme. Hooch managed to slow them down and everything was fine. The issue was resolved, and soon everyone was flying thirty feet forward then turning around and flying thirty feet back.

After all the basic skills were covered, Mme. Hooch announced that they were all to circle the pitch, one by one. Fortunately for Mary, who looked like she might faint, Mme. Hooch assured each of them that she would stand in the center of the green, her wand out and at the ready in case someone fell. Everyone else was to wait patiently in line and cause the flyer no distractions. If they did, they'd receive two months' worth of detentions. The first person up to fly, naturally, was James Potter.

To Lily's vexation, he hadn't been boasting about his capabilities at all. In fact, Potter was a _superb_ flyer. He zoomed about sixty-five feet into the air and took a lap easily. Even on a Shooting Star, he made the flight look speedy and breath-taking. He touched down with his jet black hair even messier than normal because of the wind, and a stunning smile lighting up his entire face.

Lily was next. She mounted her broom and firmly kicked off from the ground. She felt her belly drop as she rose to about seventy feet. Then she leaned forward and sped off. Her heart felt as light as a feather. Her hair and cloak whipped behind her. This was amazing. This was _wonderful._ She was the wind. She was the breeze. By the time she landed, she was laughing out of pure joy.

"Nice flight, Evans," Potter told her, smiling genuinely.

"Thanks."

Dorcas and Black also flew very well. Mary, on the other hand, flew incredibly slowly and cautiously, only rising about thirty feet in the air. Peter flew around in starts and stops, and at one point he almost fell off, but he regained his balance just in time. Alice flew a lap that was at least decently smooth, but it was only about twenty feet off the ground. Her eyes looked straight in front of her the entire time, as if looking down would ensure that she'd fall off her broom and break her neck. Kelly Dougherty actually did fall off, but Mme. Hooch saved her. Some pompous Hufflepuff boy, Stebbins, Lily thought he was called, had a nice lap, but then tried to show off by hopping down from his broom five feet above the ground, and he promptly fell on his face. A couple other Hufflepuffs showed some promise. But the majority of students like Lupin and Bert Chase, for example, were just mediocre. Lily grouped herself with them. After all, as much as she hated to admit it, she didn't fly one tick as well as Potter did.

That night at dinner, however, her views were contradicted.

"Was that really your first time on a broom?" Alice wanted to verify.

She shrugged. "Yeah."

Alice and Dorcas exchanged looks.

"Damn Lily," Dorcas told her. "You were pretty good."

"You were grand. Truly grand," Alice put in.

"Oh." She blushed bit and took a sip of pumpkin juice. "If you say so."

"Hi Severus; how are you? I didn't see you yesterday."

Severus scowled and let his book-bag thump onto the table.

"What's wrong?"

"Stupid brooms and stupid flying lessons. It's a waste of time that could be used on something useful, like studying."

"Oh… Well, we're studying now, so stop being so grumpy." She flashed a dazzling smile in his direction.

The Slytherin boy pulled at the hook of his overly large nose. "So what do you think of Professor Kanks? All he does is regurgitate the material in the text book back at us. We could learn the same amount of information by just reading by ourselves."

"It's only his first year teaching," Lily reminded him.

He shrugged. "So anyway, I took it upon myself to find some more detailed books on the subject."

"What did you find?" she wanted to know.

Severus flipped through one of the books and stopped at a particular page.

"Look," he said, pointing. "This one's great. _Petrificus Totalus_, see? The full body-bind."

"That's so cool, Sev," she said, laughing at his enthusiasm.

"And there are loads more," the boy continued gleefully. "Here look; This is a hex that makes your teeth grow like a rodent's."

"This one sprouts boils," Lily added, turning the page.

"I think I've had enough boils for the moment." He shuddered.

Lily bit her lip. "Poor Sev," she said sympathetically.

"I think I'm going to check this book out. I'll be right back."

"Okay."

He'd been gone a bit too long when she heard low voices growling to one another behind a shelf.

"…true that you fell off your broom, Snivellus? And you broke your over-sized honk?"

Lily stood up, her chair scraping against the floor. She marched over to where the three boy were standing, Potter's sneer still etched on his stupid face as the words died from his lips.

"Leave him alone," Lily ordered, her hands on her hips.

The boys turned to look at her.

"He started it," Potter snarled, outraged.

"And I'm finishing it," the little girl announced primly. "Go away."

_**A/N: Yay for Lily! I hope you didn't think she was a being unGryffindor-ish by walking away from their skirmishes all the time. She was just trying not to physically harm them and control her temper all in one... just so you know, it won't always stay like that.**_


	11. Bandages

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created for the Harry Potter world. **_

**Bandages ****(James) **

James rolled out of bed and grabbed his glasses from off his night stand. He yawned, stretched, and ran a hand through his extraordinarily untidy hair. Why had he woken up before his alarm had gone off? That was stupid. Maybe he should just go back to bed for four more minutes_. Nah, I'm already up and I need to pee._ He pushed through the bathroom door.

There was Remus, standing in front of the mirror. He was holding a swath of medical cloth to a long, deep gash in his side just above his waistline. His expression turned to one of horror as he saw James enter.

"Sorry. Didn't know it was occupied." The bespectacled boy backed out and closed the door.

James returned to his bed and waited for his alarm to go off. What had that been all about? _That looked like it really hurt. And what's with all those weird scars? It's like this happens all the time. _James hadn't noticed that his roommate was particularly accident-prone. _He'd said he'd left to visit his ill mother. What could have happened? _

"Hey man, sorry for walking in on you," James said casually as Remus left the bathroom.

Remus' eyes flicked over to him. Then they flicked away just as quickly.

_There's something wrong with that bloke_, James decided as he brushed his teeth.

"D'you reckon something's wrong with Remus?" James asked Sirius as the two skipped over the trick-stair going down.

"Not really, no."

"I just think it's odd-"

They heard a scream from further down the hall.

"Get off me or I'll kick your nuts in you-"

There was the thud of flesh walloping flesh. The words broke off into a choking sob.

"Can it, you filthy little mudblood!"

The boys broke into a run. _Evans?_ James thought, alarmed. He desperately hoped not, but the voice had been a girl's. Four older boys were circled about a crumpled figure, jeering.

"You're nothing, McDonald. You and your squib father should get the hell out. You're not one of us and you never will be." He kicked her in the ribcage.

"Oi!" Sirius yelled angrily.

The four Slytherins turned their heads to see the advancing Gryffindors. James ignored his momentary relief that it wasn't Evans and focused on the anger he felt towards the bullies because it was McDonald. He darted up to the group before they could think and knocked one of the boys flat.

Now, that was very courageous and all, but James was rather small and skinny for his age, so he didn't manage to stay on his feet for very long after that. A taller, broader Slytherin boy rammed him to the ground. Sirius joined the fray shouting a battle cry. He whopped the Slytherin who'd run over James in the side of the head, allowing his friend to regain his feet.

"Mary move!" Sirius belted out between blows. Mary crawled away from the fight, a hand on her broken nose.

James dodged one Slytherin, but another grabbed the hood of his robes and pulled him back. The Gryffindor slid out of his cloak and rolled, but yet another boy lashed out with his foot and kicked him, sending him sprawling. Sirius nailed that fellow in the kidneys.

Still, it was four against two and the fight was going badly. Before James could stand, one of the boys yanked him up and punched him in the face, breaking his glasses in the process.

"What is the meaning of this outlandish behavior? Brawling about like a pack of unschooled muggles." Professor McGonagall stood there, her wand still raised after performing the shielding charms that now separated to students.

"They were beating up on Mary, Professor," Sirius protested.

"And you decided to dole out punishment by yourselves? Why didn't you come inform a teacher? Professor Bookle was in his office down the-"

"Is there a problem out here, Minerva?" asked a squint-eyed old warlock with a wispy, grey mustache. He dug a finger into his ear and twisted, as if that would help rid his deafness.

"Yes, thank you, Cyrus. If you could help Ms. McDonald to the infirmary, please. I'm not yet done with these six." She turned her beady eyes on the remaining boys.

"Well, it could've been worse," Sirius said. The two boys were laying on cots in the Hospital Wing, their wounds wrapped and treated. Mary was asleep two cots over and the Slytherin boys had been set up on the far side of the wing to prevent any disputes.

James shrugged. "Four points were taken away from us each and three were added to the both of us. That means that we lost two points for Gryffindor total, right?" He shook his head. "I don't get it. We were _helping_ her."

"Fighting is still against the rules. You didn't think Professor McGonagall would let you off without any sort of reprimand, would you?" Remus Lupin had entered the room, three bags of chocolate frogs in his arms.

"Still," James protested.

Remus smiled. "And how much worse off are the Slytherins? Here you go." He handed them each a bag of sweets.

The two other boys smirked.

"I thought so," Remus commented dryly.

Just then, the nurse came in with two blue, smoking potions. "Finish this up and the two of you will be free to go." She blinked twice at James and Sirius' visitor. "Well hello, Remus. Do you need anything?"

The brunette boy's face began to color and he stared at the chocolate frog he was about to unwrap. "No thank you, Mme. Pomfrey. I just stopped by to see how my roommates were doing."

"Well," she said briskly. "You can make sure they don't skip finishing their potions, then."

Remus smiled politely. "Yes, Mme. Pomfrey."

She turned to leave. The other two boys were eyeing their potions distrustfully.

"I'd pinch my nose if I were you," Remus suggested.

"Does that actually help?" James wanted to know.

"Not really, but it could trick you into thinking so."

James laughed and took a big swig. He gagged.

"Is it more tart or sour, do you think?" he asked Sirius, his eyes watering behind his glasses. The other boy's lips were puckering and had been stained a nice shade of blue from his own drink of potion.

Soon the boys were released from the Hospital Wing. The trio made their way to the Gryffindor common room, Sirius and James chattering to Remus about their adventure.

"We're going to have to do something to those gits," James said finally.

Sirius nodded emphatically, his eyes stormy. "We'll get Peter to help us. Then we'll find a way to get some of his fire crackers in the beds of those Slytherins. They won't know what hit them."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Remus asked, rolling his eyes. " You don't know how to get into the Slytherin dormitories. Wouldn't it be easier to wait for them in the bathroom closest to the dungeons and set off dung bombs in their stalls?"

Sirius and James just gaped at him. Then wicked smiles slowly began to creep onto their faces.

"What?" the other boy said defensively. "It would be easier that way."

_**A/N: Yep, that's how Remus finally started getting out of his shell. If you could leave a review that would be superb. Thanks so much for reading!**_


	12. The First Hogwarts Halloween

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created for the Harry Potter books.**_

**The First Hogwarts Halloween**** (Lily) **

Lily sat with Severus in the library, studying History of Magic. The two were doing their essays on Odric the Oddball early so that they could look up more Defense spells in their downtime.

"Isn't it funny that essays are measured in feet and inches?" Lily commented.

"What else would they be in?"

"I don't know. It's just interesting."

Severus shrugged. Then he dipped his quill and continued writing.

They had left the library and were walking together to the Great Hall for lunch when a spooky voice began singing:

"Snape is an ape/He's white as a crepe/I think I should shrink his nose down to a grape."

"Shut up, Black," Lily growled. "Come on, Severus." He followed her away from the bodiless voice of Sirius Black.

"Snape is _great_," she said forcefully.

"You know, Lily, that doesn't really rhyme," he said dryly.

She laughed. "It's called assonance, my young padowan."

Severus looked at her as though she'd sprouted another head.

"It's a muggle reference, never mind," the little witch sighed.

"Do wizards go trick-or-treating?" Lily asked her dorm mates as they sat down in the common room to work on a Potions essay that Lily had previously almost finished with Sev.

"What's that?" Alice asked confusedly.

Dorcas laughed. "If there's one thing my parents can agree on, it's that wizarding Halloween is overrated compared to muggle Halloween."

"Oh?"

The blonde girl shrugged. "They're both muggleborns, so they can compare the cultures pretty decently."

"Just because it's more formal doesn't mean it's overrated," Alice said with a little bit of a pout. "Halloween is a very important holiday in the wizarding community. Besides, less of that silly marketing stuff is a good thing, right?"

"Not if your goal in life is to get as much free candy as possible," Lily laughed.

Dorcas snorted. "And that's your goal in life, is it?"

"Naturally."

"I think I second that," she grinned.

Mary, who had previously been staring across the room at a certain pair of black-haired boys, looked over at her dorm mates.

"Hey guys." She leaned in closer and the other girls instinctively did the same. "Do you reckon that Sirius is kind of… fit?"

Dorcas scoffed and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms. "What brought this on?"

"Maybe a little," Alice conceded, "but he's not really my type."

"Oh, you have a type, do you Alice?" Mary giggled.

"Yeah." The little girl put her round cheeks in her hands. "He has to be kind and quiet and good with children and his strength will be kept hidden by a gentle exterior, but when I'm in his arms I'll know I'm in the safest place in the world." She hugged herself.

Her friends looked at her with eyebrows raised.

"What?"

"I think someone's read one too many romance novels," Dorcas stated slowly.

"I have not!"

Dorcas snickered. "It doesn't work that way, dummy."

"It's great, Alice," Lily assured her. "It makes sense why you don't like Black, though. He's not exactly the kindest, quietest boy in the world."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Jeez, Lily."

"What? Oh come on, they're a bunch of bullies."

"No," Mary said firmly. "It's the Slytherins who are the bullies. Sirius and James came running to my rescue."

"If they're both so fantastic then why don't you like them both? I mean, they _both_ helped you out that day."

"What's your problem with them?"

She shook her head. "They're annoying." The young witch tucked some of her long red hair behind her ear and dipped her quill, intent on finishing off her conclusion.

She had just finished and was re-reading her paper in order to catch any mistakes when someone crept up behind her chair. Mary hid a smile behind her hand as the person put a finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet.

"BOO!"

Lily jolted and the inkwell rattled dangerously before settling back down again. She turned around angrily.

"I swear Potter if that ink pot had spilled…" She trailed off, letting him imagine.

But Potter just laughed in her face.

"Happy Halloween!"

"Do you want to come see Hagrid's pumpkins with me, Alice? He's picking them for the Great Hall decorations right now."

"Sure, that'd be grand."

The two girls just managed to side-step Peeves as he whooshed through the corridor, singing nasty things about people. Many of the portraits made disgruntled noises.

The grey smoke wafting out of Hagrid's chimney blended into the thick grey clouds that blanketed the sky above. The giant had bent over to load an enormous gourd into a wheelbarrow.

"Hi Hagrid!" the girls greeted.

He smiled at them, his black eyes crinkling at the corners from behind the skein of black hair covering his face.

"Mornin' Lily, Alice, how's yer day been so far? Anybody scare yeh yet?"

Alice giggled. "Potter got Lily pretty good earlier."

Her friend rolled her eyes. "Not really," she objected.

Alice pressed her lips together to suppress a smile but failed. Lily decided it was time to change the subject.

"These pumpkins are huge, Hagrid. How did you do it? Magic?"

"Oh, well…" He glanced guiltily over at a pink umbrella that was leaning against the fence. "I jus' watered 'em an' found a really good plant feed this time is all." He straightened to his full and utterly immense height, and then smiled even more broadly. "They'll make grea' jack-o-lanterns. Yeh jus' wait an' see when they're up a' the feast."

The sheer amount of food that appeared on the golden platters that night was incredible. Lily hadn't experienced a Hogwarts feast since welcoming night and she had been secretly looking forward to it all day. Hagrid's gigantic jack-o-lanterns were suspended about the bewitched ceiling instead of the candles that usually floated there. The milky grey clouds had formed into inky swirls as night set in.

All of a sudden, a cacophony exploded across the hall. Fire crackers had been set off underneath the Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw tables. Pumpkin-shaped smoke rose up from the chaos below. Every now and then, another one would go off with a bang and a cloud of bat-shaped smoke. Students were screaming. The hem of Sev's robe had caught on fire. All throughout, Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew were laughing their heads off.

"It's too bad Remus had to go down to the Hospital Wing with a headache. He missed all the action!" Black said between guffaws.

Potter nodded in agreement and sucked in a great deep breath after laughing so hard.

Pettigrew was simply overcome with peals of laughter. Tears were streaming down his pudgy face. He took a drink of milk in order to calm himself, continued his hysterics, and forced milk out his pointed nose.

"Ewwwwww!"

_**A/N: I know that Star Wars came out previous to the time frame, but I'm not sure if the term "padowan" was coined until the prequels or not...ah well. **_


	13. The Match

**The Match ****(Lily) **

Professor McGonagall was immediately on the scene. Stern reprimands were carried out through pursed lips, and by the time she was done, forty-five blood-red rubies had disappeared from the Gryffindor hourglass. Their laughter had died away quickly. Lily's temper was boiling._ Forty-five points lost. Forty-five. Fifteen points for each boy. How could they have been so stupid? _Her bad mood continued all the way until the next day in charms class.

"Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick!" squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick. "Now, recall that the proper words are _wingardium leviosa_."

Lily raised her swishy willow wand and enunciated the words clearly.

"_Wingardium leviosa_!"

The feather Lily had been trying to levitate began to gracefully rise into the air. It floated up high above their heads. Corner the Ravenclaw gave her a jealous look.

"Oh, well done!" congratulated Professor Flitwick. "See here everyone, Ms. Evans has done it!"

The rest of the Ravenclaws aimed envious glares in her direction as well, but Lily didn't care. She felt so happy she almost imagined that she could float up, up, up, just like her feather.

That upcoming Saturday was the first Quidditch match of the season, Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor. Everyone was ecstatic, especially Lily. The days had gotten colder, and on this particularly brisk morning, the puffs of breath from the students making their way towards the pitch condensed into wispy clouds. Lily had bundled herself up in her cloak and Gryffindor scarf. Additionally, she pulled a marshmallow-like hat with a flocculent fuzz ball on the top over her sweeping red locks. She was so excited that she was practically skipping as she followed the girls up to the top of the stands.

The boys were already there. Lupin had upside-down triangles painted on his cheeks. One was red and the other gold. He looked a little less tired than usual, and a wide grin had spread across his face. This was far happier than Lily had ever seen him. Pee-wee Peter Pettigrew had gold streaks painted on his face that were supposed to be lion whiskers or something. However, he ended up resembling a rat more than anything else. Black and Potter, in their Gryffindor fervor, had gone for the full body paint. They were both bare-chested and must have been freezing. Half of them were gold and the other half were red. A roaring lion was printed on each of their chests.

"Alright, Evans?" Potter asked, his scrawny chest puffed out and his eyes glittering with an intense zeal. He winked at her from the red side of his face.

"Aren't you cold?" she queried, glancing at the goosebumps that prickled all over his skin.

"Nah," he replied. "It's only a bit chipper out here. Ready for Quidditch?"

"Definitely."

With that, the teams burst out onto the field and the whole school erupted in cheers.

"_AND_—they're off!" cried the announcer.

"GO, GO, GRYFFINDOR! GO, GO, GRYFFINDOR!"

This was excellent.

"SCORE!" Lily hollered along with the rest of her fellow Gryffindors as the quaffle swooped through the highest Hufflepuff hoop. She was jumping up and down, thunking against the metal bleachers as she yelled praises at the chasers soaring overhead.

"Get the snitch! Get the snitch! Your fifty points up!" Black shouted towards the seeker.

"It's right over_ there_," hissed Potter. "How can he _not_ see it?"

His question was quite valid; because just then, the Hufflepuff seeker had put on a burst of speed.

"She's seen the snitch!" called the announcer.

"Aw, _come on!" _yelled Black.

Thankfully for the Gryffindors, a bludger cam streaking towards the Hufflepuff seeker's head, forcing her to dodge it. In all the commotion, the snitch had disappeared.

"That was close," breathed Lupin.

Lily nodded fervently as the Gryffindor chasers passed the scarlet ball down the pitch to score another ten points.

"There it is!" shouted the announcer. "The golden snitch!"

The Gryffindor seeker was shooting up and up, the Hufflepuff seeker right behind him. A hush rushed over the pitch as the clouds covered them.

"He's got it! He's got the snitch!" the voice on the microphone rang out.

Madam Hooch blew her whistle. "Gryffindor wins!"

The crowd roared. Alice and Mary were squealing and jumping up and down. Remus fist-pumped. Lily danced around on top of her chair, giving off loud whoops. Potter grabbed her and squeezed her into a hug, still cheering. She squeezed back.

"I know you think Potter's annoying but at least he's cuter than Snape," Dorcas said mildly. The girls were in their dorm room doing Defense Against the Dark Arts homework.

"I _told_ you, it wasn't like that," snapped Lily, her face as red as the Gryffindor team's Quidditch robes, "and stop dragging on Severus."

"We've all got eyes, Lily," Mary teased.

Lily crouched over her essay and pretended to ignore them. _Stupid Potter. _This was all his fault. He hadn't even been clothed properly.

The daily mail swooped in with the owls at breakfast. Lily hadn't sent a letter since before the match, so she decided she'd do that later. Petunia was still mad at her as far as she could tell, but her parents seemed fascinated by her school.

Usually bouncy, cheerful Alice was frowning as she looked through her subscription of _The Daily Prophet._

"What's wrong?" Lily asked her.

"Has another poor ministry bloke gone missing?" Dorcas inquired.

Alice nodded.

"_What?" _Lily's eyes widened in alarm.

"There have been "disappearances" happening all over since the summer before last," Dorcas explained. "The ministry isn't doing one whit about it, even though it's obvious who's behind it. It's the Knights of Walpurgis and You-know-who."

Mary gasped. "My dad said that there were some queer muggle deaths recently. No damage found on the bodies. Do you think..?"

Alice looked solemnly up from her paper. "The killing curse. My uncle said it was used all the time during the great war against Grindlewald."

"Wait, what's going on?" said Lily, feeling frightened. "Who's You-know-who?"

The girls were quiet for a time, making Lily all the more anxious.

"He's a radical pure-blood supremacist," Alice answered her, finally. "He started off speaking to all of the families about… well… getting rid of muggleborns."

"Oh." Lily bit her lip worriedly.

"He's crazy," Alice followed up immediately. "Not everyone thinks like that. If it comes to a fight there are a lot of families who will protect muggleborn rights."

Lily looked down at her porridge, feeling a bit sick to her stomach.

"Well," she said, putting on a blithe façade that they all could see through easily, however hard she tried, "I'm going to send a letter real fast. I'll see you guys in class."

Dear Mum and Dad,

Sorry I haven't written earlier. We had our first Quidditch match this weekend and I've been doing the homework I didn't do then now. It was worth it, though. Quidditch looks amazing. You already know how I feel about flying, but this game is just so cool. There're seven players on each team. Three chasers, who try to score by throwing a big ball into one of the hoops, the keeper, who defends the hoops, the seeker, who catches the tiny flying ball that's worth the most points and wins the game, and the beaters, who hit the bludgers with bats at the other team, kind of like dodge-ball. The bludgers are bewitched to fly around and hit people equally if the beaters aren't around to direct them. It sounds complicated, I know, but it's really not. I think you two would like it. Anyway, my friend Alice showed me something in the news today. There's some funny business going on that may affect the non-magical world. So just keep an eye out, okay? Tell Tuney hello for me, will you?

Lots of love,

Lily

The musty smell of owl pellets met her nostrils as she entered the owlery. Lily gently woke up a dozing screech owl and persuaded him to take the message. The screech owl looked up at her and blinked big, yellow eyes. Then he held out his leg for the scroll to be tied to. After he'd flown off, Lily had just turned around to scurry to her next class when she bumped into Professor Kanks.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir."

"Yes, yes," he replied distractedly. He strode hurriedly toward a sleeping spotted owl; his hands were clenching and unclenching in his pockets. Lily thought his behavior was a bit odd, but she concluded it wasn't any of her business. Maybe he'd known the wizard who'd disappeared, or something else just as personal.

Later that day as he explained the attributes of vampires, Professor Kanks seemed much more relaxed.

"Many people overlook this asset to a vampire's anatomy, much preferring to center on the fangs, but it is a hundred times stronger than our own. Does anyone-?"

Lily's hands shot into the air.

"Ms. Evans?"

"A vampire's sense of smell."

"Correct; three points to Gryffindor."

"_Know-it-all,_"Black coughed.

Potter laughed.

Lily turned and glared at them before facing front.

_**A/N: Salutations! Yeah, so I'm sorry about those weird line-breaks. Word decided to put them there and I don't know how to get rid of them so...yep. They function as the normal line breaks would. Anyway, it's the first time we hear of Voldemort! Ooooohh! Thank you so much for reading and please review if you can. You're all the best. **_


	14. The Moon

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created for the Harry Potter books.**_

**The Moon ****(James) **

James frowned across the common room to where Evans was sitting with the rest of the girls.

"James?" Peter questioned timidly.

"Humph." He began to sketch out the rotations of the moon, his eyes still trained on the gaggle of giggling eleven-year-olds. "I can't believe she told us off again. I mean, everything was totally Snivelly's fault."

Peter nodded adamantly.

"Your phases are off," Remus told James casually, not taking his eyes off his own Astronomy homework.

The agitated boy looked down at his parchment. "Oh; thanks Remus."

Sirius was wiggling his foot, causing the whole table to jiggle.

"Will you stop that?" Remus muttered discontentedly.

"I'm so booored. I wish _we_ could go to Hogsmeade."

"Well we can't."

"But there's got to be some sort of secret passageway out there. I mean, this is _Hogwarts_ we're talking about."

Remus stiffened.

Sirius' foot went still. He stared at the other boy with wide eyes.

"Have you been holding out on us, Remus? You know a way into Hogsmeade, don't you?"

"No," he replied curtly. "I do not."

Sirius laughed. "You're such a bad liar, Lupin."

"I'm not the one who intelligently remarked about pickles after Professor McGonagall caught us painting the dungeons pink and yellow."

"Oh, speaking of that," Sirius noted. "Is everything on for that git Avery's prank tonight?"

"Oh, _yes!_"

"Fine."

"We're doing Evans next."

"Wow, you're really good at Astronomy," James remarked as he and Remus put down another planet on their maps. The sky was partly cloudy that night, but Remus had managed to find everything easily.

The brunette boy shrugged and bent back over his telescope. "It's interesting."

"True."

James ran a hand through his hair as he contemplated their assignment. "Do you know what phase the moon is in? I haven't been able to find it with all these clouds."

"It's a waxing gibbous," Remus said quietly.

"What? No way; did you find it?"

Remus' eyes darted over to James, then back to his telescope. "No, but I noticed it yesterday."

The other boy shrugged. "Works for me."

James was intently watching Evans eat her sandwich.

"Any minute now," Sirius said lowly, grinning.

Evans coughed.

The two boys exchanged looks.

Then she let out an enormous burp. She looked mortified.

James smirked.

She put a hand to her chest.

"What-?"

But before she could finish, fire exploded out of her mouth, incinerating Mary's lunch.

People screamed, Mary the loudest. Peter, James, and Sirius ducked beneath the table, laughing hugely. The flames just kept coming. Evans couldn't even shut her mouth.

"Crushed chanticleer feathers," James yelled at her cheekily.

The flames hit his sleeve and he had to pat them out hurriedly.

"Ms. Evans! Ms. Evans, over here," called Professor McGonagall in an authoritative voice.

Evans turned around and the teacher had to dodge the inferno. Evans' great big green eyes widened to the size of saucers. The three boys snickered. The poor girl tried to apologize, but it was as if her mouth had transfigured into a flamethrower. Professor McGonagall raised her wand and the fire ceased.

"Please go to the infirmary, Ms. Evans," Professor McGonagall ordered, not unkindly. Evans only nodded. She might have even been close to tears.

Once she was gone, Professor McGonagall turned on the trio of pranksters.

"Detention every-other day until the end of term."

"I'm not sure if that one was worth it, mate," Sirius said to James as the boys got ready for bed.

"Oh, it so was. She's going to be hoarse for days. And I bet she won't talk to us for weeks."

His friend laughed. "Too true; I wish Remus would've been there to see it. That fire was pretty incredible. I mean, his mum's not getting any better, is she? Couldn't he wait to see her until Christmas hols?"

James looked at him strangely before running a hand through his hair.

"I dunno, mate. I mean, she's his mum. I can see why he goes back."

"Right." Sirius examined the bedspread. "Well, I'm tuckered out. I'll see you lot tomorrow."

A cold draft curled into the room and woke James in the middle of the night. He fumbled for his glasses, then got up and went to close the window. As he approached the sill, he noticed Sirius sitting outside on the roof by himself.

"Hey man, don't you need a cloak? It's cold out here." James had climbed out of the window to join him.

"Nah, I'm fine."

"Do you do this often?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes. I was just thinking about Remus and Christmas and going back."

The wind whistled over the tower roof.

"Do you miss them?" James asked after a while.

Sirius laughed cynically. "Great Godric, no. I was just speculating about what they'll do once I go back. I'm sure they've gotten over their initial shock by now."

"Sorry, I don't quite follow you."

"I'm supposed to be in Slytherin," Sirius reminded him.

James nodded. Now he got it. "It'll be fine, though," he said reassuringly. "I mean, it's not like they're going to kick you out for something you can't control. You're still their son and heir."

The full moon made pale light shine over Sirius' handsome face. "But I'm not sure I want to be."

His friend tilted his head in confusion.

"My family is in pretty deep with this new Dark Lord that's around. Being here and being a Gryffindor has made me see there's so much more than that, you know? I don't want to be a part of whatever it is they're planning."

"You don't think there'll be a full-out war yet, do you?"

"Yeah, I do. You?"

James nodded slowly. "Yeah."

The two boys looked over the moonlit grounds of their school.

"I'm going to go back in," Sirius said, standing up and carefully balancing back over to the window.

"I'll come in in a bit."

"Don't freeze your ass off," His friend warned, grinning. Then he stepped into the dorm room.

James looked up at the bright light of the full moon.

The full moon.

_He was holding a swath of medical cloth to a long, deep gash in his side just above his waistline. "Your phases are off," Remus told James casually, not taking his eyes off his own Astronomy homework. "It's a waxing gibbous." Remus' eyes darted over to James, then back to his telescope. "No, but I noticed it yesterday." "I was sick." "I have to go to the infirmary. I'll catch up." "My mother's been ill." A rusty stain was on his upper arm. Remus picked at a scab on his nose. "The moon will be out by midnight tomorrow." _

The full moon.

"Bloody hell," James whispered.

_**A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuuuun! James found out about Remus' furry little problem! Yeah; if you could review that would be fantastic. Thank you so much for reading.**_


	15. The First Christmas Holidays

**The First Christmas Holidays**** (Lily)**

"Check mate," Lily declared, grinning.

Alice sighed, causing Dorcas to laugh.

"My turn," the blonde girl announced, switching places with Alice on the bench in the Great Hall.

"I play winner," Mary said, looking up briefly from her pumpkin pasty.

The Great Hall was full of a beautiful, festive light. Hagrid had brought in his best pines to be decorated with golden tinsel. Professor Flitwick was levitating the star to the very tippy top of one of them as the girls played at the Gryffindor table below. End-of-term exams had just finished and the Hogwarts Express would be taking students back to London the following morning.

"So what's everyone doing for Christmas?" Alice asked brightly.

"My parents and I are going to the Dominican Republic," Mary answered.

There was a clatter as Lily's knight crushed Dorcas' bishop.

"That sounds grand!" said Alice enthusiastically. "I'm just going to the usual Christmas balls and stuff that we do every year. My auntie Muriel will be hosting one I think, so I'd better look sharp. She always says I'm too cheerful and need to stop eating sweets. "

"She sounds horrid!" Mary said, aghast.

Her friend laughed. "Maybe she is, a little, but she says stuff like that all the time to everyone. No one really takes what she says to heart."

Dorcas' rook shattered Lily's pawn. Pieces of ceramic went flying across the table.

"Oh, sorry, sorry," the little red-head apologized. She helped scoop the pieces back into the felt-lined box where they would repair themselves. "So you're really going all the way to the Caribbean, Mary?"

"Yep," the other girl affirmed.

"Are you using an airplane?" Dorcas wanted to know.

"What's an airplane?" Alice asked.

The blonde girl shrugged. "It's some sort of contraption that muggles fly on."

"Muggles can fly?!" Alice inhaled sharply, as if a bucket of ice water had just been poured down the back of her robes. "How do they manage to stay up?" She looked to her muggle-raised friends.

"Beats me," replied Mary.

"It has something to do with propellers, I think," said Lily. "Propellers spin really fast," she explained before Alice could ask.

"Have you ever been in an airplane, Lily?" Alice wondered.

"Oh, er…" She ordered her knight to take Dorcas' queen. "Check."

Alice was still looking at her with an innocently inquisitive face.

"Well… I've never actually traveled very far away from home. I…" She examined the chessboard. "My parents don't usually have the kind of money, um, to travel."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Lily! I don't usually go on vacation eith-"

"No, no. It's fine." Lily cut her friend off quickly. "It's no big deal. I probably wouldn't have flown if I traveled anyway." She looked to Mary. "Isn't your dad a lawyer?"

Mary nodded. "It's nothing to be ashamed about, Lily. You're a witch now, so it's not as if your wealth or lack thereof in the muggle world matters anymore."

Lily nodded and bit her lip. Dorcas had just taken her knight.

Lily's queen bashed Dorcas' other bishop to pieces. The young witch flipped some of her scarlet hair over her shoulder as she concentrated on her friend's next move.

"So what are you doing for Christmas then?" Alice prompted.

"I'll be going home. My mum will probably make such a huge dinner that we'll be eating leftovers for ages. My sister will be coming back from her school too, so I'll get to see her." She bit her lip apprehensively at the notion. Then she said brightly, "Oh and I think Severus might be coming over some time during the holidays, so that'll be fun."

"That sounds grand, Lily," Alice said, smiling. "I wish I could meet your parents. It must be so grand living as muggles."

"You said "grand" twice in three sentences," Dorcas pointed out, rolling her eyes. Her knight crushed one of Lily's pawns.

"Is that bad?" Alice asked, her greenish brown eyes wide.

The girls laughed.

"It's grand, Alice. Don't worry," Lily joked.

Alice had to laugh along with them this time. "Fine, whatever." Then she turned her attention to Dorcas and said playfully, "What're you doing for your Christmas holidays, hmm?"

"I'm staying at Hogwarts," the blonde girl remarked casually. Her knight took another pawn.

Alice blinked a few times. "But why? No one's going to be here."

"No reason; I've just heard that Christmas here is really awesome," she replied as nonchalantly as she could.

"But Christmas is supposed to be about family," Alice persisted, unaware.

Dorcas focused in on the game of wizard's chess.

"Are your parents okay with this? I don't know what mine would say if I told them I wasn't coming home."

"I sent them a letter," Dorcas said through gritted teeth, trying to keep her cool.

Lily bit her lip and sent her pawn up a space.

Alice shook her head. "I just don't get it," she trundled on obliviously. "Don't you miss them?"

Lily tried to shut her up by kicking sharply under the table. But instead of kicking her intended target, she got Dorcas in the shin.

"Ouch! Bloody hell Lily!" The blonde girl raised her foot to the bench and rolled down her school sock in order to assess the damage.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kick you. Are you alright?"

"Then who did you mean to kick?"

"Uhh." Her face started to turn the color of a tomato. "Check."

Dorcas scanned the board and had her rook move.

Lily ordered her bishop to move three spaces. "Check mate."

The other girl glared at her. "Fine. And not that this is any of your business, Prewett, but I'm not going home because I don't want to _deal_ with it. So shut up. Mary it's your turn."

Alice's round cheeks went all rosy with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry Dorcas. You're right. It's none of my business. I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry, honest."

"Whatever. I'll see you guys later."

"Dorcas."

"Dorcas come back; aren't you being a bit dramatic?"

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry, Dorcas."

Dorcas avoided her roommates the rest of the evening. And, in the morning, she was still asleep when the other girls left for the horseless carriages that would take them to Hogsmeade Station.

"Mum! Dad!" Lily exclaimed when she saw her parents. Her dad scooped her up in his arms and gave her a loud kiss on the cheek before setting her down again. He wiped his brow.

"Whoosh, you're getting heavy. Our Li'l Lily must have grown three inches, don't you think Rose? What're they feeding you at that place? Magic beans?"

Lily blushed and rolled her eyes, hoping no one else had heard her dad's corny joke. "Daddy," she said with a withering look.

Mr. Evans' only response was to laugh. "I've missed you, Lily-pad." He hugged her again.

"_Da_ddy," she complained. She was much too old for silly nicknames, especially not in public. Or near anywhere Potter and his mates might hear. Then she looked around. "Where's Tuney?"

Her parents exchanged a look that was meant to be subtle.

"She's resting, dear," Mrs. Evans told her daughter. "You'll see her when we get home."

Lily felt her heart sink. "Oh. Okay."

Lily flopped onto her bed. She loved Hogwarts, but it was so nice to have her own room again. She sighed when she remembered how she'd always sneak into Tuney's room when she was little. She hadn't wanted a room all to herself back then. She stared up at the stationary ceiling fan.

Petunia was leaning against the doorframe. "How come you didn't stay at your freak school?"

Lily shot off the bed. "Tuney, I- I'm so sorry."

Her older sister just curled her lip. "Stay away from me, Freak." With that, she turned away.

"No, Tuney. Please come ba-" The little girl bit her lip and sat back on her bed dolefully. _What now?_

Powdery snow tossed in the air as Lily kicked off the ground with her toes, causing the swing to rise higher and higher. The bare branches of the trees made sharp black lines against the soft, grey sky. She leapt off the swing and made a high arc before landing with a puff, her feet stirring up a snow bank.

"Hi, Lily."

"Sev!" she greeted. "How are you?"

He laughed. "It's only been three days, Lily."

"I know," she said loftily. Then she giggled and pelted a snowball at him.

His mouth dropped open in shock. Then he grinned and bent down to gather some snow of his own. But before he could get the crystals properly packed into a sphere, he got a slushy one right in the face. Lily laughed.

"Sorry Sev, but you'll have to be faster than that."

He retaliated by launching his missile at her back. She shrieked in laughter and scooped up another armful.

The snow battle ranged all over the playground. Severus lobbed a white globe at her head, but she ducked behind the slide and he missed. She threw a powdery one at him and it exploded right before impact.

"You have to construct them better than that," Severus chided, not paying attention to what she was doing until he received a face full of snow. Lily giggled as he spluttered.

"That was a distraction!" she called. Then she skipped away, her dark red hair fanning out behind her.

Severus aimed one at her back, but missed and knocked her hat clean off her head. She laughed and chucked a snowball right back at him, hitting him in the chest.

"Hey, I like that hat." She trotted over to where it had landed on the side of the hill, then lost her footing and slipped down the icy decline on her behind.

Severus ran over to see if she was all right and slipped and slid down the hill himself.

"Oof."

Lily giggled, still laying in the snow. "Are you alright?"

He frowned. "I was supposed to ask _you_ that."

She laughed and put the back of her hand to her forehead dramatically.

"Oh, my gallant rescuer. Whatever would I do without you?" She chucked some snow at him halfheartedly, still laughing. "Hey Sev, let's make snow angels."

Severus watched as she stretched out her arms and legs, pushing the snow around to create the wings. She certainly looked like an angel. Snow rested on her clothes like powdered sugar. Her face was all rosy from the biting cold and little ice crystals glittered like diamonds in her auburn hair. He would never spoil her fun, so he stretched out his appendages and began making his own snow angel.

The two stood up and admired their handiwork.

"I like your wings," Lily told him.

Severus shook his head. "Yours are better."

"Just accept the compliment, Sev," she returned, rolling her bight green eyes.

He shrugged and plopped back down in the snow.

"I found your hat," he told her, holding it up by the fuzz ball.

"Thanks," she grinned, pulling it onto her head.

The duo sat in companionable silence, watching the sun make the snow sparkle.

"Severus," Lily began.

His mouth twitched into a smile as she said his name. "Yeah?"

"You're my very best friend."

"You're mine too, Lily," he responded.

"And we'll always be friends forever… won't we?" She looked over at him.

His coal-black eyes met her emerald gaze.

"Always, Lily. Always."

**_A/N: Awwww, Snapey is so cute. I feel like the part when they compliment each other's wings totally happens when Snape goes to the afterlife. You know, after Nagini and all that. In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading and any reviews will be sincerely appreciated._**


	16. Winter fo Wizards

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created for the Harry Potter books.**_

**Winter for Wizards**** (Lily)**

Lily woke on the 25th of December to the sound of her sister shrieking.

"There's a bird in the house! What's it _doing _here?"

In reaction to that, the little red-head promptly sprung out of bed, still dressed in her pink, polka-dot pajamas, and thundered down the stairs in her bare feet.

"Don't scream, Tuney. You'll frighten it. It's an owl. It's meant to send mail."

"I am not screaming!" screamed Petunia. "_Eek!_ There's another one!" She ducked for cover beneath the coffee table.

"What's going on in here?" asked Mrs. Evans sternly. "Lily, what's this?"

The owls flapped down to the little witch from where they'd been perched on the Christmas tree. There were three in total. The first was a rare African Bay owl that Lily was sure must've been ridiculously expensive. It held it's leg out so that Lily might untie the package. That present came from Mary. The next bird was a rumpled Barn Owl that Lily had seen resting in the Owlery, and he was delivering for Alice. The final nocturnal raptor Lily was shocked to see. She was the beautiful Great Grey who Dorcas always fed tidbits to. And, sure enough, the package had been sent from her blonde dorm mate. Lily didn't know what to say. She'd gotten presents for her new friends, of course, and had planned on giving them the next time they met because she had no other way to transport them, but she hadn't thought that she would receive any. Especially not from Dorcas. Wasn't she still mad at the rest of them?

"Wait here," she told the owls.

Petunia laughed scornfully. "It's not like they understand you. Get those filthy creatures out of this house!"

Her little sister ignored her and returned with the wrapped presents for her friends.

"Here you are," she said, securing the gifts to the animals. Then she lowered her voice. "Now you should probably get out of here before Tuney goes crazy."

Her father had come down the stairs at this point, and he blinked owlishly at the specks flying away through the mid-morning air.

"Great Scott; they really do send things with messenger birds." He broke into a toothy grin.

"_Daddy_!" exclaimed Petunia disbelievingly.

"It's alright now, Tuney," Mr. Evans said kindly. "Everyone gather around the tree."

Lily couldn't quite believe it. She'd been sent Christmas presents. And they were good ones too. She'd never had friends who'd do that before. Mary had given her a shell from the Dominican Republic; and when she put it to her ear, she could hear the sounds of the sea. Dorcas had gotten her an enormous bag of chocolate frogs, and Alice had sent Lily her very own wizard's chess set. She ran her hand over the smooth, checkered surface. She still couldn't believe it.

Another thing that baffled Lily was the card her parents had given her. She looked up, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"But… but first years aren't allowed broomsticks."

Her mother winked. "That doesn't mean you can't keep one at home."

Lily's emerald eyes grew wide.

"THANK YOU! Thankyouthankyou _thank you!" _She ran to give her parents a hug.

"Merry Christmas, Lily-pad," her father announced, chuckling.

"You're very welcome, dear." Her mother told her. "Now come and help set the table."

Christmas dinner was extremely uncomfortable, what with the rapid-fire questions about magic coming from her parents and the ceaseless glares from Petunia. But the food was excellent, of course. Mrs. Evans had really outdone herself this time.

"…and the portraits can actually move from frame to frame?"

"Yes, Dad."

"That's extraordinary!"

Lily merely shrugged and took a bite of roast. Her father kept chattering on excitedly about her letters from Hogwarts and Petunia seemed to be getting angrier and angrier with every word he said. Lily bit her lip. She'd really hoped the two of them would have made up. Sure, Petunia had said some hurtful things, but they were sisters. Family stuck together, didn't they? They didn't cast each other off for being different. Besides, the two of them still had to live under the same roof during the holidays. Petunia couldn't keep hating her forever… could she?

That Boxing Day Mr. Evans woke his youngest daughter early.

"Tuney's decided to go to a friend's house, so get you coat and wizard money. We're going to Diagon Alley!"

The tiny, golden, snitch-shaped bell on the door of Quality Quidditch Supplies tinkled as the three Evans's made their way into the store. Upon realizing that the parents were muggles, a young salesman strode up to them, presenting a Shooting Star at double the cost. Lily had to smile and decline politely before her parents said anything that would encourage him.

The air was thick with the smell of leather, metal, and wood varnish. A snitch whizzed around the shop and bludgers busted to get out of locked supply trunks. Rows and rows of broom models lined the walls, all combed and polished to perfection. Out of all of them, it was the classic Nimbus 1000 that caught Lily's eye.

"Do you like that one, dear?" her mother wanted to know.

Lily nodded. "It revolutionized the racing broom. I read about it in one of the books in the library I was telling you about." Her father came over to join them as well. "This model carried professional Quidditch players until 1969, but you know," the young witch lowered her voice, "it's not the newest model anymore, so the price should be docked a bit."

Her father gave her a smile. "Don't worry about the cost, Lily-pad. It's a Christmas present. We'll cover it. Are you sure you want this one?"

"Yes, please. Thank you both so much." Her heart was standing in her eyes. She gave both of her parents a hug.

Lily bundled up to keep from catching a cold and took her new broom over to the forested area in her neighborhood where no one would see her. Then, with a smile stretched to an incredible size, she took off.

"Woohoo!" The young witch zipped through the air at a tremendous velocity._ Quidditch Through the Ages _hadn't been lying about the never-before-seen speed of the Nimbus 1000. She was flying. She was flying high over the tree tops. It was better than Lily had ever dreamed it would be.

**_A/N: I've never understood why no one thinks Lily can fly. There's some pretty blatant indirect characterization in The Prince's Tale that she's not afraid of heights. Yes, I agree she was never on the team, but you'll just have to wait 'til Qudditch try-outs second year to figure out why (evil laughter). Thank you heaps for reading and if you could leave a review that would be amazing._**


	17. Mud

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created for the Harry potter books.**_

**Mud**** (James) **

The four, first-year Gryffindor boys made their way back from the greenhouses one particularly mucky , sleet-filled January day. Peter's uneven teeth were chattering against each other as they trudged up the hill.

"I c-c-can't f-feel my f-feet-t." he expressed, wrapping his cloak even tighter around his chubby body.

"Really?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows. "I would've thought it'd have been your ears." He gave one of them a tweak.

James laughed. "Or your nose."

Peter laughed too, in spite of himself. Remus just rolled his eyes, unable to mask his smile. James glanced at him fleetingly before listening to Sirius tease Peter about the humongous fans that stuck outwards from his head.

Remus Lupin: secret werewolf. James still couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out before. Of course, what he had known about the temperament of werewolves seemed to be entirely wrong, but he would've thought he would've recognized the pattern of Remus' illness sooner. _Poor Remus,_ he thought. No wonder the other boy was so jumpy. He had to carry that secret all on his own. It must be awful.

Just then, Peter threw a mud clod at Sirius in order to make him shut up. He missed just barely, and Sirius got a mischievous glint in his eye before scooping up some wet turf of his own.

"Oh? Is that how it's going to be? BRING IT ON, PETTIGREW."

James laughed and Remus tried to shield his book-bag beneath his robes so it wouldn't get hit. The two-way battle raged for another minute before James bent down to grab a missile of his own. In just minutes, Sirius had tackled Remus to the ground, James had made a hit on Peter's shoulder and Peter had thrown one long.

It hit Evans' cloaked butt.

James burst out laughing. "Evans POOPED!"

The girl ahead stiffened, put the book that she had been reading as she'd walked into her satchel, and turned a direct one-eighty, her green eyes flashing and her face turning red. She slowly and deliberately took up two handfuls of mud and squashed them together. The boys didn't notice; they were still quaking with laughter.

With a resounding _splat,_ Evans had thrown the mud right in James' face.

"Poop-face."

James smeared the mud on his glasses even more as he wiped them with his sleeve.

"Poop-face, huh? D'you wanna GO?" He smacked his chest, bent down and then raised his arms, two handfuls of mud oozing between his fingers.

She laughed haughtily. "You can _try_."

"Never in all my years at Hogwarts…"

_Blah, blah, blah._ McGonagall looked livid and Evans looked as though she were about to cry. What was her deal? It was just going to be a couple of detentions. She did look kind of funny though, what with her robes all splotched brown and mud drying in her auburn hair. James zoned back into the conversation.

"… four points from each of you. I am surprised at you, Ms. Evans…"

Of course she was. James had been surprised as well. Who knew that Goody-Two-Shoes Evans had had it in her to become a part of a mud-slinging war?

"… For the rest of the week you'll be helping clean with _no_ magic with Mr. Filch."

James groaned. Detention with that grimy git was always horrible.

McGonagall's beady eyes flashed. "And you can have another detention tacked on to that, Mr. Potter."

"Aw, but Professor…"

"_Two_ extra detentions. I can keep going, Mr. Potter."

James sighed.

McGonagall turned to address the rest of the group. "Your first detention will start tonight at seven o'clock sharp. You are dismissed. Tidy up before going to your next class."

_**A/N: I hope with this chapter you can see the two major sides of James. Did you like his reaction the Remus' furry problem, by the way? I hope you enjoyed and thank you so much for reading. It would be excellent if you reviewed.**_


	18. Detentions

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created for the Harry Potter books.**_

**Detention**** (Lily) **

"I'm not talking to you."

"Ha! You just did."

"Shut up, Black," Lily mumbled. "It's detention. We're supposed to stay silent."

Black rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because everyone's around to hear. Filch was supposed to set up the others on their half of the school, but who knows if that dirt-bag can hear us talk through seven flights of moving stairs?"

Lily promptly ignored him.

"Ooooohh. The silent treatment. You're just trying to make me suffer for the next two hours, aren't you?"

"As if I'm not suffering enough already," the other Gryffindor muttered under her breath. The two of them had been on their hands and knees for the last fifteen minutes, scrubbing away at baseboards.

"I heard that," Black said in a loud, sing-song voice.

"Shhhhhhh!"

"Did you just _shush_ me?" Black seemed mortally offended.

"Yes, I did. Now get back to work. I'm not going to clean these baseboards on my own."

"_Well."_

He really was being a bit dramatic, Lily decided. The two worked the opposite sides of the hall, politely scrubbing around the greaves of the suits of armor.

"Ugh," Black commented. "When do you think the last time they cleaned these things were?" He inspected the grime, dust, and mold that his rag had picked up with a disgusted face. It had turned an indescribable green-brown-black color that was certain not to come out unless cleaned by magic.

"Hey Evans, look!" He threw it over to where she was kneeling and it landed on her shoulder, scum-side down.

"Ewww!" Lily gingerly picked it up with her finger tips and flung it back over at him. "How in the world did you think that was necessary?"

"Hm?" Black batted his over-long eyelashes innocently. "Merlin's shoestrings, Evans. You shouldn't throw things at people. You might end up landed in detention or something."

Lily groaned. "Why me? Couldn't I have been stuck with someone slightly normal? Remus or Peter, perhaps?"

"Are you implying that I am not normal, Evans? How you wound me." Black wiped an imaginary tear with the sleeve of his robes.

"I'm sure you'll get over it," muttered Lily.

Black laughed and Lily felt a small smile grow on her face before she could stop it.

"Me and James aren't allowed to be together in detentions anymore. McGonagall seemed to notice that we'd just plan our newest prank during it."

"James and I," Lily corrected.

"What?"

"It's incorrect grammar otherwise," she sniffed.

"Screw grammar."

Lily looked scandalized and Black burst into guffaws.

"You…should see your face," he wheezed between bark-like laughter.

Lily huffed and turned back to her baseboard.

"You're a-"

Whichever rude name Lily thought Sirius Black was, however, remained unknown because at that moment Filch's cat padded onto the scene and the two of them quieted immediately.

"Alright you lot," Filch addressed Lily, Potter, and Pettigrew the next evening. They were standing in the Trophy Room as Filch's cat, Ms. Evangeline, rubbed herself against all the shelves, spreading cat hair. "You better have everything in here polished before I get back." He gave them a gruesome leer and shuffled out of the room, Ms. Evangeline following at his heels.

Pettigrew's protruding nose twitched nervously as Potter and Lily scowled at opposite sides of the room and started working as far away from each other as possible.

"Oh look!" Pettigrew loudly and awkwardly announced to the death-glare duo as he read the silver plaque he was polishing. "Dumbledore got the Barnabus Finkley Prize for Exceptional Spell-casting when he was in school."

"Really?" Potter asked. He walked toward Pettigrew and read the plaque over his friend's shoulder, still polishing the handles of the Quidditch trophy in his hands. Even Lily looked up, interested.

"Wow," Lily said, her green eyes round. "That's one of the most prestigious awards you can get."

Potter laughed. "You would know, Evans. You're the Charms expert, after all."

Lily stared at him, her dark red eyebrows scrunching a little as she contemplated whether she'd detected any back-handedness or if he'd actually meant what he'd said as a compliment.

Potter wasn't paying her any mind at all, however, and was instead discussing the many Quidditch trophies that were in the room with Pettigrew. Lily began to feel slightly miffed at that for some reason, but decided to push the feeling away and focus on buffing the trophies. Maybe if she finished up quickly, she might be able to sneak in a library session with Sev before curfew.

_**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed! You make me so deliriously happy that I can't even express how insanely happy I am. I hope everyone enjoyed reading! **_


	19. The Duel

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything created for the Harry Potter books.**_

**The Duel**** (James) **

"Whoops. Sorry Snivellus," sneered Sirius snidely as Snape went sprawling on the floor after the corner of his cloak had been stepped on. Snape's lanky hair fell in his face as he got to his knees and started piling all of the books and parchments that had gone flying as he'd fallen.

"A bit clumsy today, aren't we?" James said with a smirk. He took a few strides closer to the Slytherin boy and stepped on some of his papers, leaving big brown shoe prints. "Oh darn. That essay was almost finished, wasn't it?" James shook his head. "You should really take better care of your things, Snivelly."

The kids passing by snickered and Peter, who was watching the scene over his friends' shoulders, was laughing so hard he hiccupped. Snape's face was twisted into a mask of pure loathing and he raised his wand from where he was on the ground and shouted,

"Flipendo!"

The knockback jinx missed James' ear by a quarter-inch and hit Peter square in the face, sending him into a suit of armor with a clang.

"Oi!" Sirius yelled, pulling out his own wand and pointing it in Snape's face. James and Remus ran to help Peter out of the jumble of armor. The helmet had fallen over his head and now he couldn't get up. It was too heavy. Not to mention that the visor was down and keeping him in the dark.

"Helloooo," Peter called, his voice sounding strange and echoing through the grates.

"What's going on out here?" Professor Kanks asked sternly. The crowd of spectators disappeared in a flurry of black cloaks.

"Magic is not allowed in the corridors, Mr. Snape," the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher reprimanded. "Four points from Slytherin."

Snape opened his trap to complain about the unfairness when Kanks turned to Sirius and James and continued,

"Two points from each of you for provoking him. Are you alright, Pettigrew?" Kanks levitated the helmet off Peter's head and examined the floating metalwork with an awed expression. He cleared his throat.

"Well, move along boys. I'll fix this old thing up good as new. Be on your way."

Remus collapsed on his four-poster, looking very green indeed. The full moon was tomorrow and James worried about him.

"I can't believe that slimy git," Sirius raged, pacing about the dorm. "We're going to have to make a point."

"Yeah!" Peter agreed.

"We'll show him once and for all!"

"Once and for all," Peter repeated with fervor.

"And do you know how we're going to do it?" Sirius asked.

"A Wizard's Duel," James chimed in, grinning spectacularly.

"A Wizard's- Wait, _what?!"_ Peter squeaked.

"_Ja_mes," Sirius complained. "You made me lose my mojo."

"Sorry," his friend laughed. "Please continue."

"And do you know how we're going to do it?" repeated Sirius.

"A Wizard's Duel?!" squawked Peter, still in shock.

"_Peter!"_ Sirius exclaimed, pouting.

"Are you serious?" Peter wanted to know.

"Of course I am! Thanks for finally learning my name by the end of _January_."

"No, really," Peter said. "Are you serious?"

"I just said-"

"Seriously?" James snickered.

"Seriously!" Peter yelped anxiously.

"I'm Sirius!"

"No, I wanted to know if you were serious abou-"

"I am!"

"-t the Wizard's duel!"

"My name is Sirius. Stop wearing it out, Peter. I mean, would you like it if I asked you if you were Peter every sentence? Or if I said it between every word in a sentence? I-Peter-would-Peter-like-Peter-to-Peter-eat-Peter-a-"

"In the name of everything pertaining to Merlin," Remus groaned from his mattress. "PETER! Stop saying the word 'serious' in your question."

At this James doubled over laughing and fell down on his bed, unable to breathe. His glasses slid askew and soon enough everyone else was laughing too. Even Remus managed a chuckle from his exhausted position on the bed. Sirius slid down against the bed post and rolled around on the floor.

Finally, they all lay there, catching their breaths after their mirth.

"And do you know how we're going to do it?" He paused expectantly.

"How?" Remus grumble-sighed.

"We're going to have a Wizard's Duel."

Remus had slogged through all of his classes the next day until he finally told his friends that he was ill and had escaped to the infirmary. He certainly looked ill, after all. His cheeks were sunken and there were black bags beneath his blood-shot, tawny eyes. James put a hand through his hair worriedly. Remus' transformations must be horribly painful. He wondered if there was anything he could do to make it better.

"I think we should re-do the Rock, Paper, Scissors," Sirius complained, pouting.

"Not on your life," James replied with a wicked grin. The Gryffindor boys sans Remus were leaning against the wall a few yards away from the library, waiting for Snivellus. "You're my second."

Sirius sighed gustily.

"Oh look! There he comes," squealed Peter.

Sure enough, the slimy Slytherin was making his way toward them, reading the back of a new book.

James stepped in front of him. "I challenge you to a Wizard's Duel."

Snape gave him a hateful look, his lip curled in disgust. "I acc-"

"Tell me you're joking."

_Crap_, James thought. They'd forgotten about Evans.

"You're going to duel each other?" she questioned. "Really?"

"It'll be more noble that way," James persuaded. "There are rules to a proper duel."

Evans raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"I can take care of this, Lily," grumbled Snape.

"Yeah, Evans!" Sirius said brightly. "He's a big boy now!"

Both of them shot him a glare.

"Oh honestly," Evans muttered. Then she said a bit louder, "It's my _birthday_. Can't you guys stop fighting for at least a couple more hours?"

James blinked. "It's your birthday, Evans? You should have told us. We would've done something-"

"S_ur_e." She rolled her emerald eyes. Then she took the Slime-master's hand and dragged him away.

James turned to the others. "So here's what we're gonna do…"

"This is the spell Remus used to make the explosions sound louder, right?" James asked Sirius. They were sitting at what seemed to be a very ordinary dinner in the Great Hall.

"Yep," Sirius answered with a pop on the 'p'.

"Alright-y then. Time for the show." He jumped onto the tabletop and said, "Sonorus."

"GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW THIS, BUT TODAY IS A VERY SPECIAL DAY INDEED. A MISS LILY EVANS IS CELEBRATING HER TWELFTH BIRTHDAY, SO IF YOU WOULD JOIN IN ON WISHING HER A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OFF WE'LL GO. ONE, TWO, THREE:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR LILY EVAAAANNNNSS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUU!"

The Great Hall erupted in cheers and applause; nearly the entire school had joined in. The exception being most of the Slytherins. James bowed to all the tables. He noticed Dumbledore's eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles and McGonagall flashing a rare smile.

Evans' face had flared up red like a tomato and she was peeking out at the rest of the hall through the cracks in her fingers. Prewett and McDonald were giggling as Meadowes clapped her on the back. They'd sung nearly as loudly as Peter and Sirius had. Evans looked kind of extraordinarily embarrassed, but James knew that she'd secretly loved it. He was sure of it.

"Where's Peter?" James asked as the two remaining dorm mates got ready for bed.

"He said he wasn't feeling too well. He went over to Pomfrey's to get a Pepper-up potion. You know, he probably caught whatever Remus has, the poor bloke."

"Ah." James seriously doubted that Peter had caught whatever Remus had. However, he wondered if the other boy would realize that Remus wasn't in the Hospital Wing. James ran his hands through his hair nervously. It wasn't that he didn't trust Peter; just that the more people knew about Remus'… problem… the more likely his secret would get out.

"Psst. James."

James grumbled in his sleep and rolled over. Then he felt someone poking his shoulder. He blinked open his eyes and saw a very blurry outline of Peter's face. His friend handed him his glasses and he took them and put them on.

"What's going on?" he whispered. Peter looked terrified. "Are you alright, mate? Sirius said you'd gone to the Hospital Wing-"

"I did," said Peter, nodding very fast. "The thing is… Remus wasn't there."

_Here comes the logic._ James stared at his friend stoically. "Why do you think that is?"

"W-well." Peter's nose was twitching. "It's a full moon tonight. And actually, it's always a full moon when he's feeling cruddy, if you th-think about it…"

"You're not going to say anything about this, right Peter?" The light of the full moon filtering in from the window reflected off of James' glasses.

Peter looked up at his friend with his watery blue eyes. "Shouldn't we tell the headmaster?"

James shook his head. "I'm sure he already knows."

"Why would he let him into the school?" Peter gasped.

"Please," James crossed his arms in contempt. "Are you saying that Remus is going to hurt somebody?"

"He-he might…"

"Maybe," James conceded. "But, I mean, come on. It's Remus. He wouldn't hurt a fly. And besides, he deserves to learn magic just as much as the rest of us, don't you think? He's at the top of the class."

"O-okay," Peter finally said, nodding. "What about Sirius, though?"

"We'll give him until next full moon to figure it out. Then we'll tell him. I'm sure he won't go blabbing."

"Yeah," said Peter quietly. "G'night James."

An eerie howl sounded over the grounds of Hogwarts. A battle cry in the never-ending duel between the boy and the moon.

_**A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed. If you could leave a review that would be brilliant. Thanks! **_


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